


In My Way

by myspideysensesrtingling



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man - Fandom, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2019-10-04 03:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 63,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17296577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myspideysensesrtingling/pseuds/myspideysensesrtingling
Summary: You've spent your days devoted to learning both in and out of class. You've grown up accustomed to this lifestyle and even accepted that you'd grow up at the orphanage. So when an unnamed man calls and wants to adopt you, you're nothing short of intrigued.





	1. The Couple From New York

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever attempt at writing fan fiction so please bear with me! Any feedback is greatly appreciated but most importantly please enjoy :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've spent your days devoted to learning both in and out of class. You've grown up accustomed to this lifestyle and even accepted that you'd grow up at the orphanage. So when an unnamed couple calls and wants to adopt you, you're nothing short of intrigued.

Sunlight crawled along the old wood floor, slowly reaching creeping up the bed and onto your face. Closing your eyelids a little tighter, you rolled over in your twin cot for just one more breath before the day began. You inhaled deeply as you sat up and reached for the ceiling, a monstrous yawn escaping from your lips despite the long night of sleep. Slowly twisting around to stretch your back next, you stole a glance at the clock - 6:28 am. Two minutes before the alarm would go off - right on time.

It was another summer Monday like any other: quiet in the house for at least a little longer. The other children would wake up sometime in the next half hour and the volume level would quickly escalate. You loved to enjoy these moments of silence at the start of each day. Turning the alarm off, you rotated to face away from the window, sliding your legs out from under the blankets. Your toes just touched the ground; you pressed into them as you shifted your weight to stand up. Rolling your neck around to alleviate some typical stiffness, you crept around the other cots with kids still snoozing to get to the dresser. You reached into the top drawer labeled "GIRLS 13&UP" and fished around for a moment before pulling out a light long sleeve shirt and some running shorts. You slipped them on gingerly, followed by a pair of well-worn white socks, and laced up your scuffed running shoes. The traction on the bottom was nonexistent, worn completely flat from covering many more miles than the shoes were meant for. As you left the girls' dormitory, you grabbed a hair tie and slipped your hair into a high ponytail.

This was a normal routine for you; each day, you'd wake up before anyone else in the house and slip downstairs without notice of the majority of the residents. Before sneaking out the back door, you caught a glimpse of light glowing out of the office of the headmaster, a slightly heavy-set brunette in her late fifties who dressed the same every single day. You knocked softly and, upon hearing confirmation, pushed on the handle to swing the heavy door open, revealing Miss Johnson already scanning over paperwork on top of her desk.

"Good morning, Y/N," Miss Johnson uttered, already focused on her work, "are you planning to go on your usual run?"

"Yes, ma'am," you replied, eager as these morning jogs were a privilege you were not prepared to lose. "And--good morning to you, too, of course."

"Here's your tracker. Stay within the property line and be back within an hour." Miss Johnson quickly returned her attention back to the papers in front of her as you took the location-tracking watch and fastened it to your wrist. You were by far the oldest at the orphanage at the age of 15 (almost 16, as you counted down the days), which granted you some freedoms. These rules only allowed kids above the age of 13 to use these tracking devices so they could pass the tree line and venture into the forest that lay beyond the courtyard behind the orphanage. This was where the other kids - all under the age of ten - played in a recess-like setting under supervision by the teachers on the grounds. Though filled with outdoor toys and games, this didn't afford them much room to play as the tree line sat quite close to the building. It was the forest that extended far beyond and opened up to multiple trails. These were used primarily in science classes to test the environment or for hikes that substituted for PE classes, but you loved the serenity of being outside in the trees in the morning when the world felt quiet and belonged completely to you. When you turned 13, you quickly took advantage of the freedoms granted by the rule. You never pushed the boundaries, though - breaking rules was not something you had experience in.

You crept out the back door and into the sun as it slowly climbed higher above the horizon and inched its way up the sky. After stretching your legs briefly and rolling your shoulders each way, you strolled toward the forest edge at the back of the yard. You walked in a little way to keep loosening your muscles and, upon reaching the tree with the bird's nest perched on a low branch you could almost see into when standing on your toes, jogged off.

This time had become an adventure despite knowing your usual route and the landmarks in the forest as well as you knew your own name. That said, you didn't know a third of your name. Over 15 and a half years ago on a late December night, Miss Johnson hustled to a knock at the door only to find you as an infant on the doorstep in a small basket with a typed note reading "Y/N XXX --- [Y/B/D]/2001." Drops of rain from the overhang on the porch had fallen onto your small face and the note, causing the ink of the last name to run and rendering it illegible. Despite hours of research on where the mysterious child came from, child services was unsuccessful in determining your last name or in even finding any record of you. They then somewhat randomly picked the last name Anderson for you and Y/N Anderson then existed in the system under the care Miss Johnson and the other teachers at the Children's Home of Seattle. That was the extent of your knowledge about your past. It was 2017 now and you had other things to think about; you rarely concerned yourself with it as all your life had been at the orphanage as long as you could remember.

Continuing your jog along the path, you reached the bottom of a hill and trotted up to the top where the trees cleared and the entire Seattle cityscape was within sight. It was a beautiful August day without a cloud in the sky and most of the city was already bustling. Behind you you could see across Puget Sound and over to the Olympic Peninsula where the Olympic Mountain Range launched into the sky. In front of you you could see the Rocky Mountains stretching up even farther away. Looking to your left was downtown, with the Space Needle standing out near the sports stadiums and the many high-rise towers. Any run up a hill was worth it to earn this view!

After looking lovingly over the surrounding landscape, you jogged back down into the forest along the second half of the trail. You admired the evergreen trees as you went while listening closely for the squirrels scrambling up trees and birds chirping back and forth. Beads of sweat formed at your hairline deep in the forest, driving you to push just barely harder for this last stretch on the way back to the home. The forest ground lightened as daylight crept in and you suddenly reached the opening of the trees back into the courtyard. Taking a deep breath and slowing to a walk, you paced in some circles to slow your breathing before opening the back door and returning the tracker to Miss Johnson in her back-corner office.

"Oh, Y/N, hold up a second," Miss Johnson said as you turned away. You slammed on the breaks and whipped back around as uncomfortable thoughts consumed you:  _ Am I in trouble? Did I go over my time limit?  _ You were no rebel and the thought of possibly having done something wrong set you on edge. The teachers at the home weren’t particularly strict and you had never gotten in trouble, but it didn’t mean you weren't afraid of the thought of it.

"I…I actually had someone call about you. They will be arriving at nine this morning," Miss Johnson stated, hope underlying her tone, "so please come back to my office a few minutes after that so I can meet them before you come in."

The whites of your eyes stretched as you stared back at Miss Johnson. This had happened just twice before, and both times were a bust as you went to the homes of the people looking to adopt you for only a week or two before returning to the orphanage. You never lost hope, however. Sure, your life so far had consisted of your time at the orphanage. But there was no way your future would be there, too. Every day you woke up and went on your jog, then studied all morning as all the other kids went to their classes. You initially took classes with the other kids but begged the professors to privately teach you so you could progress ahead of the younger kids. You initially didn't get your wish, but as you continued to surpass the other kids, the teachers eventually decided it would be in everyone's best interest. The system worked out well for you; you were able to take the morning to yourself to study and research topics you found interesting on a spare computer in the computer lab. Oddly enough, this time alone spent researching was when you learned the most. The afternoon consisted of your private lessons, which were also much more efficient since you were the only student. Your standardized test scores were off the charts, but you didn't know that. You knew you passed and that they were good, but you didn't know they were  _ that _ good. You had no idea how smart you really were and instead figured that you scored poorly on tests, which was why no one came to adopt you. Plus, who would want a 15- (almost 16) year-old when they could adopt a much younger kid?

Doubts about how adoptable you were cast aside, you instantly had an endless list of questions to ask Miss Johnson about these potential parents.  _ Who were they? How did they know about you? What were they like? _ Before receiving the chance to ask any of these pertinent questions, Miss Johnson cut you off.

"It is a couple from New York. The man called and refused to give a name over the phone but sent numerous recommendations from high-ranking officials and clearly is a reliable person. I know nothing about them, which is why I need a little time to speak to them before you come in," she stated, trying to be optimistic without getting her or your hopes up. "Just wait outside my office a little after nine and I will bring you in when we are ready to see you. Ok?"

Clearing your throat - and your head - you nodded coolly and ducked out of the office. Mind running faster than a race horse, you headed back upstairs, oblivious to the small kids running around and past you. There were so many things that could happen and so little time until they did. Your imagination weaved intricate stories of who this couple could be as you grabbed your bathroom caddy and hopped in the shower once all the kids were gone. You didn't stop thinking about it - not while you brushed your teeth, not while you put clean clothes on, not while you brushed your hair - you were on autopilot while considering all the possibilities the day could bring.

Back in the bedroom, your clock never moved as slowly as it did now. You were ten the last time someone came to meet you; nerves were quickly resurfacing. Soon enough, though, the clock ticked to nine and you laced her trusted shoes back up to go downstairs. You immediately analyzed everything about yourself and everything you ever did. Were you smart? Were you nice enough? Were you cute enough? Were you  _ enough _ ? You didn't have much social experience other than with adults and with kids way younger than you…what if they thought you were weird?

Next thing you knew, you stood outside Miss Johnson's office for the third time that day. Leaning up against the wall facing the office, you focused on your breathing. It was a method you learned online as with a lot of things you knew. Counting slowly to three on the inhale…and to five on the exhale. But your mind still ran. And ran, and ran, and ran…

\----------

In the brief moment the headmistress stepped outside, the woman was checking over her nervous fiancée. They had both talked about this decision for months but were not immune to the jitters. Their relationship had been rocky and adding a kid to the picture would smooth anything over.

“Come here,” the woman whispered to the man, who stared straight ahead as his knee bounced relentlessly. She leaned over and adjusted his lapel, smoothing it out. “You do want to impress her, right?”

“Yes,” he bit back without looking at her, swiftly covering up his own nerves as he had learned to do so well growing up. “But I don’t want to look like father business, honey!” In their silent connection the woman knew exactly what he was referring to. He despised his father and the fact that he grew up, for the most part, without one. Without his knowledge, his thoughts mirrored those of the girl outside; he feared the worst. He feared he wouldn’t be enough.

“Hey,” the woman asserted, setting aside her own anxiety to try to quell that of the man next to her. She leaned over once again and gingerly placed a hand on the cheek facing away from her, pulling his face toward her. “She’s not going to think you’re like your dad,” she assured.  She kissed him on the cheek closest to her and let him go as the door creaked back open behind them.

\----------

"Y/N?" Your head shot up as Miss Johnson stuck her head only out of the office door and into the hallway as if she was going to ask a password before allowing entry. "Please come in."

Nodding slowly, you stepped forward and paused with your eyes softly closed for just a half second to regain your composure before the moment of truth. Miss Johnson closed the door behind you, and there was the couple from New York sitting at the desk. The woman sat, stretched up tall with perfect posture, styled in a white suit perfectly pressed and contoured to her shape. Her skin glowed as much as her light hair. The man next to her wore a dark suit with light stripes, a pale blue dress shirt, and a navy tie. His hair was dark and slightly unkempt yet still fitting the rest of his look. Large sunglasses covered his face. Despite the contrast in their appearances they shared the same expression: a soft, closed-mouth smile with nothing but hope in their eyes. In return, you stared with a puzzled look to try to figure out where you knew these people from. You knew her. You knew him. It couldn’t be.  _ No way. _ But it was.

"Hi, Y/N," the man said as they both stood. He slipped off his glasses and stuck out his hand, finally introducing himself. "I'm Tony Stark."  
  



	2. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The couple from New York, now identified as none other than Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, give you quite the decision to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those of you who enjoyed the first chapter :) I have two more written (so far) and will try to get them posted ASAP. Like always, constructive criticism and ideas are greatly appreciated, but so are comments saying you love it!

"Hi, Y/N," the man said as they both stood. He slipped off his glasses and stuck out his hand, finally introducing himself. "I'm Tony Stark." Tony Stark. The Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. The pieces clicked together then and there. Tony Stark: the man whose technology you tried to study and understand on your own daily, whose advancements in the world of science left you in awe, and who just helped defeat Ultron, was sitting right in front of you. And he was here to talk to  _ you _ .

“And I’m Pepper, Pepper Potts,” the woman added. “We’re so excited to meet you.” Of course, you knew that already. Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, was a genius, philanthropist, and role-model in her own right. Her role in the tech company left you in equal awe. And, like Mr. Stark, here she was sitting right in front of you. Here to talk to  _ you. _

A million emotions flashed across your face, from confusion causing your brows to furrow before transitioning to shock as your eyes widened further than you thought possible and eventually to excitement as  Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, likely two of the smartest people on the planet, were here to talk to  _ you. _

"Hi." Your voice cracked, your face heated up, and your eyes shot to the ground. Hiding behind your wall of trying to be a perfect child, you did not think this was going well. Eventually bringing yourself to look back up, Tony and Pepper just had the same warm smile on their faces as they had a minute before. They each had their own nerves trying to surface; as much as you wanted to impress them, they wanted to impress you.

As Tony watched the young girl process this onslaught of information, he recognized the creases forming on her face. “You know, your expression actually looks kind of like Pepper’s when you’re thinking like that,” he told Charlotte, stopping all of her thinking as her heart swelled. To be compared to Pepper Potts was unlike anything she ever dreamed.

"Anyway, I've been talking to Miss Johnson here about why we’ve made this trip to come visit you, Y/N. We’ve heard some incredible things about you,” his voice tapered, already prouder of this kid than his father ever was of him.

“We--we have a program. It monitors exceptional students around the country looking for standouts,” Pepper explained when she noticed Tony seemed frozen. She wasn’t sure she had ever seen him struggling with his words like this,  but his genuine smile told her not to worry . “Normally we sponsor their education, but we had another idea for you.”

Any pieces that had clicked together a moment ago were falling back apart. Monitoring students? Hearing things about  _ you _ ? How? More importantly, why?   The creases on your face deepened and you squinted ever so slightly as you tried to understand. You stole a glance at Miss Johnson, who beamed at the man speaking to you. What could the famous Tony Stark and Pepper Potts want with you?

“We had a couple ideas, actually,” Pepper continued. “First, and most importantly…” She peeked at Tony, who met her eyes before smiling down at you, practically glowing with hope despite all your nerves.

“We want to adopt you,” Tony said as the room fell silent. “We’re, um, looking to raise an older kid - we aren't sure about the whole  _ baby _ thing yet." He rolled his eyes and drew a giggle from you - the ones at the home sure were so loud sometimes when you were trying to study. Relief flooded through Pepper; Tony’s humor was back.

"Second,” Tony continued, more confidently this time, “I'm looking to add someone to my team with the Avengers. Someone committed, determined, intelligent, driven, and with a great attitude to tie it all together," he hesitated, not wanting to already be the dad that pushed too hard. "If you’re up for it, I think that person could be you."

They knew each of these was a lot to drop on a 15-year-old girl alone; the force of them together, however, almost knocked you over. Two of the most powerful people in the world wanted to adopt  _ you _ ? They wanted  _ you  _ to be part of the Avengers? The Avengers, for goodness sakes! They must've made a mistake, you thought, feeling incredibly unqualified.

"I…I don't have any powers," you finally said, practically a whisper.

"Neither do I, kid," Mr. Stark reassured with a smirk as Pepper nodded in support. "Not everyone is born as a god or endures a procedure that makes them superhuman. But that doesn't keep them from being super. I'm not sure where you'd fit in - maybe in the lab, maybe on the battlefield - but I from what I've learned about you, you've got what it takes to be the best wherever you're needed."

"Wow, I'm not sure what to say," you eventually stammered. It was a great complement, sure, but you weren't sure you were really up to this great task they presented to you. This was the Avengers, after all. You were just a kid who lived in the same room all her life teaching herself on a computer.  _ Even if I am "worthy" of this challenge _ , you thought,  _ do I really deserve it _ ? You weren't special. That said, this was such an incredible opportunity. Stark's lab, his technology, Pepper’s knowledge, all the resources and things you could learn, even if they didn't want you in the end - this was way too incredible to pass up. Pepper explained that they were prepared to take you today if you felt ready - the plane was a few minutes away at the airport and already on the runway.

"You'd start your junior year of high school at Midtown, a science school that our current baby Avenger, Peter, goes to," Mr. Stark added before looking at Mrs. Johnson who stared back with a look that dared him to explain the concept of a baby Avenger. "And of course by that I mean he's currently the youngest on the team. Until you join, at least." Miss Johnson, satisfied by the correction and excited by the possibility of a new future for you, began filling out paperwork to arrange the adoption should you decide to go.  This other Avenger you had never heard of piqued your interest, but you had much more pressing issues on your mind. The direction of your future was completely in you own hands for the first time in your life.

The air stood still while you sat, tense, trying to wrap your head around your choices. Change was terrifying, but this? This was incredible. You hardly left the orphanage since being dropped off many years ago, but this was a dream come true. Imaginative at heart, you knew there was more in the world for you to explore outside of the orphanage's property lines. Coming to your senses, you breathed deeply and stretched up tall, eyes directly on Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts, both of whom looked back at you hopefully as they imagined again what their life could be like if you said the word.

"Mr. Stark? Ms. Potts?"

They both blew air out of their noses, chuckling with gentle smiles. "Please, call me Tony. And her, Pepper. But - you were saying?"

"I'd like to come with you. Today."

\----------

The words escaped your lips and the many pieces of the plan were immediately put in motion. With Tony's connections, he was able to expedite the adoption process. Miss Johnson ushered you around the building, helping collect your things from the bedroom and pack a backpack with a couple of items. They stopped into the classrooms for quick goodbyes to the teachers you had, all of whom were sad you'd be leaving but relieved you would have a better shot at achieving the potential they saw in you. When you finally stopped moving for a second, you were out on the front porch with Miss Johnson where the current era of your life began. Tony and Pepper waited at the end of the pathway that connected the door to the sidewalk, holding hands and leaning up against a black Cadillac.  You stole one last look at the orphanage and Miss Johnson, who hugged you, waved, and scurried back inside, leaving you alone. Lifting your head high and taking a deep breath, you stepped down the stairs toward your new parents and your new life. Tony slipped into the front seat while you and Pepper climbed into the backseat of the car. The doors were quickly shut by a man who made his way back to the driver's seat and escorted them away from the only place you had ever known.

Seemingly only moments later, you arrived at the airport and drove straight up to the quinjet after the driver repeatedly showed identification to agents along the way. It was a small plane, lettered with "STARK INDUSTRIES" on both sides in large font shaped like the signature logo you knew well from your research online. The car door opened and you followed Tony's and Pepper’s lead, hopping out and trotting right behind them and on board. They had been quieter than you expected. This was partially planned, of course - the last thing they wanted to do was overwhelm you on day one. Tony and Pepper both felt confident you were up to the task as your files were outstanding and the child services agents he spoke to were astonished by you. In the plane, Tony took a seat by the window with Pepper across the aisle from him. You sat across from Tony but were instantly drawn to the window, your eyes filled with more curiosity and wonder than anyone Tony had ever seen. Pepper recognized the look immediately, of course, as the expression Tony made when he had a new idea. You weren't the slightest bit nervous as the plane took off despite it being your first time on a plane - instead, you were instantly mesmerized by the jet engines lifting you off the ground and carrying you across the country. Overcoming your feelings of under-qualification to even be in the same room as Tony and Pepper, you gathered up the confidence to pick Tony's brain the rest of the five-hour flight to New York. You covered all the mechanisms behind how the quinjet worked and all the extra technology he installed. He showed you designs on his laptop, which you quickly pulled into your lap and scanned thoroughly, learning more and more every second.

Tony beamed as your eyes danced around the screen, taking in every bit of information you could. You quickly set the laptop back on the small table between you and Tony and angled the screen so you could both see it, pointing at something with another detailed question about some component of the plane's engineering noted on the blueprint. While you tried to form your question, he glanced from the screen where you were pointing to her face. Your eyes shined the brightest he had seen so far and, though cliché, it was like he was watching you emerge from your shell. Pepper watched them both fondly; this was everything she and Tony dreamed of. Excitement radiated from you and Tony loved every second of it. Already feeling the reward that comes with raising a child and watching them grow, a weight on their shoulders they didn't know he carried lifted. Their eyes met briefly in between your questions and both sighed with relief. They had a happy family and were headed home. Each of them turned back to watch you, the incredible kid sitting in front of them, as they looked fondly at the outcome of their own life-changing decision to adopt you.


	3. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With your decision made, you, Tony, and Pepper hop on a plane to head to the compound. When you land, you get the tour of a lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all your feedback so far - I really, really appreciate it!! More chapters coming soon :)

Several hours blueprints, and miles later, the Stark Industries quinjet touched down at the compound. The New York sky was as bright as the one on the other side of the country, apart from the fact that the sun was beginning to set on the long day of travel. Once again following the lead of Tony and Pepper, you took no more than one step off the plane before stopping in your tracks and to take in the enormous complex in front of you. No longer hearing footsteps behind them, Tony and Pepper turned around to face the you, looking as wide-eyed as ever, prompting a pair of grins to widen across their faces.

"Welcome home, kiddo," Tony said about as nonchalantly as possible with arms wide before continuing on their walk toward the nearby building. Not wanting to get lost in this massive new place, you chased after them, backpack bouncing uncomfortably on your back.

"I'll give you a quick tour," Tony said as he opened the first door for the girls, "this is the main building, which houses most everything you'll need. The building that was just behind us? That's the hangar where the quinjets are. I doubt you'll need to go in there…at least for a while," he added with a wink. Pepper raised her eyebrows hoping this wouldn’t be the case before stepping aside for a conference call she had in a few minutes. As she darted off, as a stout man hustled up to you and Tony, eyebrows forcefully pushed together into one as the rest of his face scrunched up. He was just inhaling to speak but never got the chance.

"Ahh, Happy! Let me introduce you to the new kid, Y/N," Tony said, "and Y/N, this is Happy. He's my assistant and can drive you around should you need to go somewhere." This comment did nothing but further the force put into scrunching the supposedly-happy man's face.

"Yeah, great to meet you--anyway, Tony, I need to talk to you about--"

"Happy! Please let my kid have a nice first day, ok? No need to be so high-strung!" Tony interrupted as he patted him on the back and started to walk away, you still following behind as if on a leash.

"But, sir, I need your input--"

"Talk to Pepper, Happy, she's in charge of the company, you know," Tony said cheerily without turning back as he and you continued walking, leaving Happy standing in your wake.

"Do…do you need to help him?" you asked. "I can sit for a minute, that seemed important," you added, knowing there were plenty of things happening with the Avengers that definitely trumped your orientation.

"Nah," Tony quickly shot back, "you're the priority today, kiddo!" he insisted while walking with a pat on your back, causing you to swell with excitement despite Tony's casual demeanor. The two of you continued down the long hallway and up some stairs, which opened to a wide kitchen and living room area where a few of the Avengers themselves were milling about.

For the third time that day, your jaw completely dropped to the floor. Here, right in front of you, stood Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. It was so strange to see these people you had seen in news articles fighting aliens in such a common setting doing such ordinary things like making dinner and chatting in front of the TV. Seeing them approach, Steve Rogers glanced up at Tony with a smile and nod before noticing you, a young girl, next to him.

"Tony…please tell me this is legal," he plead, his eyes concerned yet hoping it was a joke. The man was huge, almost popping out of his shirt and standing tall in the room that would otherwise appear to have raised ceilings.

"Ew, Rogers, God, is that really what you think of me?" Tony sarcastically replied, yet the look on Rogers' face showed he wasn't quite sure of the implications of your presence quite yet.

"Avengers, assemble," Tony started, "please," he continued forcefully with an eye-roll when Romanoff and Barton only stared at him.

"This," he introduced, pointing at you as the three avengers grouped up, "is Y/N, the young kid I told you Pep and I were hoping to adopt. She said yes!" he said with sarcasm yet again, although clearly not as amusing to the other Avengers as it was to Tony himself. Your eyes darted around the group as you tried to take in the situation and group dynamic, which was far different than anything you ever encountered at the home. Tony continued introducing you to the group, explaining that you'd start training with Steve initially for strength and build up to working with Natasha for hand-to-hand combat and Clint for archery and weapons in general. Natasha and Clint, both much smaller in stature than Steve, stood at ease yet ready for anything to come at them at any time. Natasha's red hair was an intense red-orange and fell at shoulder length, framing her refined features. Clint's face creased by his eyes and mouth as he smiled at you, trying to make this environment of trained fighters much more welcoming than it might otherwise seem.

"So, kid, where are you from?" Steve asked promptly.

"Seattle," you answered, please to start off with a question you could answer, "I've been there all my life."

"Huh. I'm from Brooklyn," Steve inserted, drawing sighs from the others as this was his go-to self-descriptor, "nice to meet you." He nodded as a large clap of thunder sounded outside, pulling everyone's attention out the window. It was a beautiful day, however, so the sudden change of weather caught you off guard. The other Avengers only rolled their eyes, knowing what followed the strange occurrence. Sighing in defeat, Tony looked out the window as a wide beam of light from the sky flashed onto the lawn.

"If he ruins my landscaping one more time, I'm going to kill him," he spat out with sarcastic anger. Thunderous footsteps then sounded on the stairs you ascended with Tony only minutes earlier. Moments later, a large man in armor holding a strange metal hammer arrived at the top of the stairs and marched over to the group.

"Hello Midgardians. I heard the call to assemble, is something wr--oh. There is a child here. Why is there a child here?" the man asked, noting your presence and awe-struck stare at him. Like Steve, he towered over her, except his golden-blonde hair was much longer. He wore armor even here in the compound and a long red cape descended down his back.

"Thor, meet Y/N, she's the new kid. My new kid," Tony explained.

"It--it was my understanding that Midgardians gave birth to  _ babies _ like Asgardians. Is the case? Did the Lady of Potts birth her? Or did you grow her--"

"THOR," Tony interjected before the conversation unraveled any more as Steve, Natasha, and Clint walked away chuckling, leaving you still in stunned silence at your present company and Tony comedically annoyed by the conversation. "Her name is Y/N and we  _ adopted _ her. Not unlike your brother Loki, just a lot less evil. Hopefully?" he asked, turning to you as you nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Ahh, well, good to meet you, Y/N," he settled, casually swinging his hammer around, "I am Thor, son of Odin and God of Thunder, and I look forward to fighting with you in the future."

Despite all the day's events, this comment from Thor in particular struck you. Your seemingly chronically-wide eyes softened as you looked internally, reconsidering the choices you were making. Fighting? With gods, trained agents, iron people, and engineered super-soldiers, no less? You had never  _ argued _ with anyone much less physically  _ fought  _ someone.  _ At least the Avengers were on your side of things, _ you noted. Footsteps once again echoed from the stairs, this time much lighter and quicker.

A new figure arrived at the top of the stairs, much shorter and leaner than the god that previously appeared there. A young boy, slipping off his red mask to reveal messy brown curls, trotted over to the group with urgency.

"Hi, um, hey, Mr. Stark. I got your message and came as quickly as I could," he sputtered, staring in admiration at an unphased Tony. He then accounted for the presence of thor towering over him and the young girl beside Tony. The girl looked about his age but he didn’t recognize her.  _ She must not go to my school _ , he thought,  _ because surely I'd have noticed a girl that-- _

"Peter, I just texted you a few minutes ago. How on Earth did you get here so quickly?" Tony asked, regaining the boy's attention. Steve, over by the kitchen table, flagged Thor over to watch from afar with the rest of the gang.

"I, uh, you know, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man…gotta…gotta be able to get everywhere in the neighborhood quickly," the boy responded, looking down at his feet and then back at Tony, catching your still-wide eyes on his way back up. "What did you need me for?" he asked Tony curiously.

"Right, well, I wanted you to meet the newest recruit, Y/N. Peter, meet Y/N; Y/N, meet Peter. Or, Spider-Man," he added, given the presence of the red and blue suit. "Once she's settled in and enrolled, I'm going to send her to school at Midtown with you in the same ‘Stark Internship’ situation,” Tony explained with enthusiastic air quotes. “And you’re going to help her start school as it’ll be a new experience for her.”

Peter now had the chance to look at you for the first time. The first thing he noticed was the excitement radiating from you. It was as if he could feel his spider senses tingling by just being in your presence. Your eyes glistened with hope as you stood next to his role model, cheeks rounding as you shyly smiled back at him. But Peter was distracted - Mr. Stark mentioned you being an intern along with him.  _ Since when were there two Stark interns? _

"Hi, Peter," you voiced quietly with your hand out, "nice to meet you." While completely unsure of how to handle yourself in the presence of another kid your age, you were pleased you would have a friend if Tony was going to send you to a real school. Even more so, you were pleased you'd have a friend at all.

"I, uh, hi. Nice to meet you, too," Peter replied, gripping your hand with his gloved one for a shake that lasted what he realized all-too-late was too long before then intertwining his hands together behind his back.  _ Since when did Mr. Stark want two interns, _ he wondered. He wanted more than anything for Tony to mentor  _ him _ , teach  _ him _ , train  _ him _ , and, most importantly, approve of  _ him _ .  _ I can’t let this girl got in the way of that… _

"Well! Now that introductions are mostly done, except - where's Sam?" Tony shouted, addressing the group of avengers assembled in the common room. Sam was a name you didn't recognize, either. You hadn't read too many articles on the Avengers, but saw enough headlines that you thought you'd recognize the whole group.

"On a personal mission or something," Steve shouted back.

"Oh yeah, ok," Tony said, returning to the teens, "the last introductions for today is Bruce, so let's keep moving on the grand tour, Y/N. Parker, thanks for stopping by. You're welcome to hang out, as always, or stay in your room, or whatever!" Tony rattled off, attention already on the next task with you. Tony scurried towards Banner's lab that overlooked his own, assuming you would follow behind him. Not quite getting the memo, you stared back at the group of superheroes you just met. The group of people you'd be living with for the foreseeable future. _ This is the coolest thing ever,  _ you thought.

A smile gradually widened on your face while you scanned the room dreamily as if you'd never be back. The four original avengers still in the room chatted around the TV while Peter had not yet moved. He stared at you while you waved and jogged off to catch up with Mr. Stark, flustered by the fact that he traveled all the way from Queens for you - some new kid - to hog all the attention. Flushed with disappointment, he meandered back downstairs and out the front door before slipping his mask back on and swinging his way to his own friendly neighborhood as the last of the sunlight dropped below the New York skyline.


	4. Be Nice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You continue orientation at the compound until you find out about yet another new obstacle you’ll have to tackle. Across the city, Peter gears up for a job from Tony with no idea what he’s truly in for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've said it before and I'll say it again: thank you guys so much for your feedback!!! I love hearing from you and it makes it that much more fun to write. Not a lot happens here BUT it sets up for the next chapter that I just wrote that is quite the whirlwind. Until I post that (hopefully tomorrow) here's a little filler :)

At the end of the long hallway, Tony reached a large glass door and pressed his palm against a scanner to the right of it. Confirmation of his identity slid open the glass pane to allow you both entry into a large laboratory with countless bench tops littered with labeled test tubes and computers running various codes. More screens hung above each bench showing even more data, dividing the room up into what appeared to be multiple experiments running concurrently.

"Banner?" Tony called out as the both of you wandered down the central aisle, peeking at some of the work going on.

"Hey, Tony! I was wondering when you'd stop by with your new friend," a man said after popping out a bench in the corner and noticing you. "And you must be Y/N! I'm Bruce," he said, whipping off his latex gloves and lab goggles for a hand shake.

Shaking his hand, your eyes couldn't help but dart around at all the real science going on in front of you. You studied a lot on a computer or in books; never tactile or even three-dimensional as you were seeing it now. Despite not understanding a fraction of the data on the screens or anything around the room, you couldn't stop the fascination from flickering in your eyes.

"Cool, huh?" Bruce prodded, his own interest in his experiments having a comparable effect on his expression. "I can teach you everything I'm doing another day, but let's get going on your medical scans, shall we?" He led the group of you towards a normal doctor's chair in the corner surrounded by basic medical supplies and had you sit down before he took your vitals and ran through a basic physical. He took a blood sample and DNA swab, neither of which were particularly enjoyable for you. Your only experience with doctors was a yearly physical they did at the home that spanned only five minutes.

After updating your vaccination records with a couple more needles, your arms were growing sore but testing was not nearly done. Tony wanted to pull out all the stops to ensure you were as healthy as you could possibly be. The last scans were x-rays and MRIs to make sure there was no hidden damage. Noting early signs of tendinitis in your knees, Bruce wheeled you over to the cradle, on loan from Dr. Helen Cho, and treated some of the inflammation that would only get worse as training got going. You lay in awe as the doctor worked on your minor injury that bothered you maybe once a week but, like Bruce, realized it would be better to fix now than later.

"You're all set!" Bruce exclaimed as the cradle finished restoration, "I'll get your blood test results and scan data back tonight and will go over it tomorrow, but everything looks good to me! Your joints will feel great after that treatment as well, but go easy tomorrow to allow the healing process to be complete.”

"Thank you so much," you trailed off, still distracted by all the amazing technology in the room while climbing out of the cradle. "You said I could come back another time to learn about…all this?"

"Please!" Bruce blurted, ecstatic someone else on the compound showed interest in his research besides Tony, who typically also made fun of him all the while. "Come back any time!" he shouted to you as Tony practically dragged you out of the lab to the next stop on their tour.

Making your way back down the hall and reaching the common area, you and Tony noticed the pits in your stomachs as various odors drifted out of the kitchen. Pepper stood at the stovetop facing away from you in her heels and somehow still snow white suit preparing dinner. The rest of the Avengers appeared to not have moved since you and Tony were in the common area last, though they had just eaten and returned to their seats for more conversation.

Hearing them coming, Pepper swiveled to face you and Tony with her pony tail bobbing and a soft, round smile gracing her face.  It had only been a few hours, but relief flooded her when she saw your radiant faces. Her family’s radiant faces. Her heart swelling, she pulled you in for a hug while Tony looked on with contentment in his eyes. It was as if there were no Avengers, no Iron Man, and no new recruit. Just a happy couple and their newly-adopted daughter.

You, on the other hand, stood stiff as a board as Pepper pulled you in, thankful to be facing away from Tony with your face hidden from the world. All your research failed to prepare you for close relationships, a fact only exasperated by the minimal affection you received your first 14 years of life. You were completely taken care of, no doubt about it, and all your needs were more than certainly met. But human contact was definitely lacking. Finding comfort in Pepper's gesture, however, you wrapped your arms around her, though you couldn't help but chastise yourself for letting something as simple as a hug trip you up in your new home.

Pepper either didn't notice at all or was too kind to say anything, though, as she pulled away and ushered you over to the dining table for dinner. You fielded question after question from Tony and Pepper, doing your best to answer questions about yourself you never thought about before.

What did you like to do for fun? Did you already miss her friends back home? What kind of music did you like? What was your favorite sport? What food did you like to eat?

In your heart of hearts, you had no idea. You had fun; You had friends you missed; and you liked music, sports, and food. But what were your  _ favorites _ ? You had no clue. You didn’t know herself; you were having an identity crisis at the ripe old age of 15.  _ Not the best start _ , you noted.

While you tried to concoct an answer, Tony detected your hesitations immediately. He may not have been related to you, but he sure could read you. “You don’t have to know the answers to all these questions now,” he explained, glancing at Pepper to make sure he was doing this ‘parenting’ thing right. “We can help you explore and figure it out.”

“Of course!” Pepper chimed in. “We can go on some adventures, just the three of us!”

You beamed as any insecurity Tony detected before was instantly washed away. Tony did too - finally, here was a project he could get behind.

"So, kiddo, I need to ask you about school. I told you you'd be going to Midtown with Pete, who you met today, and school technically starts tomorrow. The principal is willing - thought not without a little push - to let you start a little late if you need some time to settle in. What do you think?" Tony proposed.

"Well, we need to get you some clothes, right? And get your bedroom organized," Pepper interjected. Simple, enough, but a new school, new clothes, and a new room all in one day was a big adjustment. Besides the whole new life, of course. "We can do some online shopping tonight, the two of us!" Pepper added, pulling you back to the conversation. While thankful for all these new things, you couldn't help but notice the pit at the bottom of your stomach telling you you didn't deserve any of it; that you weren't special.

"Y-you don't have to do that for me; I can figure something out," you stuttered, not wanting to offend while also not wanting to impose on your new hosts. "I…I'd also love to go to school tomorrow…assuming you think I'm ready. Regarding the bedroom, who all sleeps in that dormitory?"

Without hesitation, Tony and Pepper's eyes met as they tried to decipher what you meant. Tony snorted as he stood up and rinsed his plate in the sink. "It's your own room, goofball." He chuckled and took the liberty of grabbing the other plates to scrub clean. "I'll let them know you're coming tomorrow. Just be up and ready by 7:30. School starts at 8:30 but we have to get your schedule and connect you with Peter so you can find your way around. Which reminds me--" Distracted, Tony whipped out his phone and typed furiously while strutting off.

"Let's go up to my office and order some clothes to get you started, ok?" Pepper suggested. With you playing follow-the-leader once again, you both strolled down to the other end of the building, climbed up a floor, and entered her spacious office. Neat, spotless, and sleek, just like Pepper herself, you sat with Pepper at the computer to look for some basics. A few cute t-shirts, sweaters, jeans, leggings, and sneakers would do the trick. You stuck to plain items while shying away from anything that made a statement; it was almost a subliminal presentation of your self-consciousness. This trend didn't slip by Pepper, however; she picked up on your tendency to pick out loosely-fitting items or buying a couple sizes up. Sure, a wardrobe is just that - a wardrobe - but it left Pepper wondering if there was anything more to it.

After placing the order and grabbing some clothes to borrow until the items arrived, you turned to leave when Pepper spoke up behind you. "One more thing--here's your phone and laptop. The laptop has everything you'll need for school and the phone has all of our numbers. Of course, when you're here, you can always come find me," she offered with a soft smile in an attempt to convince herself she might be better at this mothering thing than her inner-critic told her she was.

"A…laptop? And a phone?" you giggled, excited about this new stuff you were getting. But something else gnawed at you, something less tangible than these material things. "Ms. Potts, I--I don't know what to say. This stuff is great, of course, and I appreciate it. But more importantly, you and Tony have given me more opportunities in the past 12 hours than I've ever had." You peered up at the ceiling and around the room, eyes drawn to the intricate designs throughout the office before drifting out the floor-to-ceiling window behind Ms. Potts to the large grass field now barely visible while stars twinkled up above. "I know I'm primarily here as part of the Avengers Initiative, but it means the world to me that you've cared so much for me. Between that and the opportunities, It's far more than I'll ever deserve and…I-I can't thank you enough for everything."

It really hadn't been much to Pepper. Just a few conversations: asking questions at dinner, seeing if you felt ready for a new school, and reassuring you you were in fact ready while looking at clothes. But to you, standing in front of her, your eyes brimming with newfound hopes and dreams made possible with this new opportunity, it was everything. You now had more people than ever before believing in you, even if you were nowhere near believing in yourself, and Pepper could see it in the way the corners of your eyes pinched and mouth tilted upwards ever so subtly. After questioning the adoption during dinner as you appeared anything but comfortable (though Tony swore you didn't stop talking on the plane), Pepper cast all doubt aside.

"You're welcome, but it's just the beginning. I can already tell you've got as much ambition as I remember Tony had when first developing his suit," she chuckled while you beamed for what was probably the millionth time that day, beyond honored by the comparison. "It's true that part of the plan was for you to become an Avenger, but don't forget the real main part of the plan was for Tony and I to adopt you. We think you deserve the world and are ready to do anything to help you get there."

After an additional hug, Pepper lead you to your new room to settle in. Once all alone, you felt the prick of nerves that comes with going to a new school for the first time. This fear was nothing compared to all the other feelings coursing through you, however. Despite losing three hours due to the time change, this had been a exciting yet draining day. Almost as soon as you pulled up the covers, your head hit the pillow like a rock and you drifted into your deepest sleep to date.

\----------

Peter finally slipped into bed, tired but luckily not too worn down after his last summer night protecting Queens. School started tomorrow and he wanted to start the year at least somewhat well-rested. He breathed in deeply, his eyelids drifting together as stillness took over the world around him.

_ Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

Exhaling sharply in protest, he pried his eyes back apart and rolled over to see what his phone thought was so important that it needed to wake him up. The name on the screen brought him to full attention.

**Mr. Stark:** Hey kid. Y/N is going to school tomorrow so make sure she has a good day. BE NICE!

_ Great _ , Peter thought,  _ just what I need _ . He dropped his phone on his nightstand and rolled over, flopping back down in bed. School was tough enough already, and now he had to befriend the new kid? What a year this was shaping up to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Again, a lot more stuff coming soon. Stay tuned!


	5. Midtown School of Science and Technology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You gear up for your first day of school and make friends more easily than expected. The one person you struggle to be friends with, however, is Peter himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one!! My favorite one so far and the most fun to write. School just started so I'll be doing my best to keep going as I have a lot more planned for this story, but it might take a few days!
> 
> I also made a few adjustments to earlier chapters. Not super important to the story but it should be a little better now :)

_ Beep. _ Your eyes shot open.

_ Beep _ . You didn't recognize this room; this wasn't the dormitory.

_ Beep _ . It wasn't all a dream.

You sat up and turned the alarm off before it could beep again, reveling in your realization. This was real. You lived with the Avengers at their compound and were going to school that day. This was real life.

This was  _ your _ life.

The effect of the time change was overshadowed by your excitement bubbling up. You stretched like you always did as you got out of bed, you feet slowly padding over to the bathroom to start getting ready. In the shower, the warm water only exacerbated the butterflies in your stomach. You quickly popped out, dried off, and slipped into the some clothes Pepper found for you. You sported a pair of skinny jeans rolled up at the bottom with a light gray wide-neck t-shirt tucked in in the front. It was supposed to be a chilly morning, so after drying your hair that naturally fell into just the shape you wanted, you slipped on a plaid flannel and left it open in the front. Lastly, you laced up some white adidas and grabbed the basically-empty black backpack before heading out of your room and toward the kitchen.

"There you are, kiddo! I was wondering when you'd be up," Tony mumbled as fatigue from the early morning upstaged the excitement he tried to convey. Steve stood above the stovetop on the island counter directly across from him and added a good morning with a soft smile as you approached. The closer you got, the stronger the smell of pancakes, clearly drifting from the stove where Steve was cooking.

"Good morning, sir!" You replied to each man as you plopped down in the seat to the right of Tony at the big island table. Calling Tony "sir" earned quite the snort from Steve, which subsequently caused Tony to gasp and dramatically bring his hand to his chest with false offense. You just giggled, enjoying every minute of their banter.

Steve served you all up some pancakes - definitely the fluffiest and most delicious you ever tasted - and sat down on your right to eat. Everyone initially ate quietly, gobbling up what was in front of them, but somehow Tony got the idea to tell stories from when he was in high school. This didn't necessarily help ease your nerves but you loved it all the same.

"So I woke up locked in the janitors' closet with three friends who were all passed out. I have no idea how we got there!" Tony spouted. You and Steve stared off behind him where Pepper stood, arms crossed and somehow unheard by Tony. Disappointed by the lack of laughter in response to his story, Tony once again feigned hurt. "What, you don't enjoy the Tales of Tony the Tot?"

"Y/N, please don't believe that this is what high school is like," Pepper interrupted, glaring at the back of Tony's head. Already aware of his impending punishment, he pivoted in his seat slowly as if afraid to face her. "Tony, what happened to that whole 'good example' thing we talked about?"

"Well, Pep, I just thought, you know--" he sputtered out as Happy, in his usual suit and with his usual stressed urgency, approached. Tony did not hesitate to take advantage of the distraction. "Ah! Happy! Here to take the lady to school. Now Y/N. Your schedule should be waiting for you in the office. Meet Peter right at the front doors, he should be waiting for you. Scratch that - he follows my every word, so he  _ will _ be there waiting for you. Call me if you need anything or if Happy tries to do anything weird," he added with a wink and smirk at Happy. Poor Happy; Tony really did love to mess with him.

"Miss, we need to go," Happy asserted, only paying attention to you.

"Most importantly," Tony continued, completely ignoring Happy, "have a great first day, kiddo!" Tony grinned down at you while Pepper smiled endearingly and nodded in agreement. He quickly squeezed your shoulder as Happy pulled you away, waving at your new parents. Happy bickered to himself as you made their way down two flights of stairs into the garage. He led the way to a black Cadillac identical to the one you rode in across the country less than 24 hours before besides the New York and custom STARK13 license plate. He opened the backseat door for you to slide in and closed it after you. He drove out of the garage and up to ground level, down the driveway and eventually to the road. You peered out the window, taking in the New York skyline as they approached the city, Queens, and your next adventure.

\----------

As usual, Peter met his two best friends, Ned and MJ, right outside Midtown's front doors. Outside the front doors was a common meeting place for students as there was a long overhang connecting it to the drop-off lane and parking lot where most kids arrived.

"Peter, remind me why we can't just go inside?" Ned asked. He knew about Peter's secret identity and the Stark internship, but Peter was holding back info on this assignment or whatever it was.

"Mr. Stark has a new girl coming in and wants me to help her out a little today."

"Lame," MJ added.

"Hey, I mean, you don't know that, right Peter?" Ned said, eyes shifting to his other friend. "Did you meet her already? How do we know who we're looking for?"

"Yeah, I met her," he said. "I'll recognize her." His mind drifted back to her, her face, her smile, her voice; though his cheeks only heated with frustration.

"Well, what's her name? What's she like? Tell us about her!" Ned babbled, always excited to meet people. Before Peter could answer him, he recognized a shiny black Cadillac pulling up. His friends followed his gaze and the group watched as Happy got out to open your door despite you already opening it on your own.

"I can open doors!" you giggled, smiling across the roof of the car at Happy standing outside the driver door. "Thank you for the ride, Happy!" Happy grinned back across the roof of the car at you, only further igniting Peter’s jealousy as he wondered how anyone could get Happy to like them.

"No problem, kid," Happy called out as you started walking toward the doors with a wave. "I'll pick you up after school. Have a great day!" With that, he slid back in the car and drove off. You stopped on the sidewalk at the edge of the overhang and looked up at the front of your new school to get a feel for the building. It was made of solid bricks with blue letters reading "Midtown School of Science and Technology" on top of the overhang with a blue and yellow logo. You took a deep breath and walked forward, almost immediately catching Peter's eye with a wave and striding toward him.

"Dude," Ned whispered, "you didn't tell us she was gorgeous?!" Peter turned and whacked his friend’s shoulder as you were close enough that you could've overheard. Peter and Ned silently fought back and forth until they saw another student stop you in your tracks.

"Hey girl, name's Flash," the boy blocking you chimed in. "You must be new, I would notice a pretty girl like you immediately." With a wink, he tried to spin around and swing his arm up, over your head, and around your shoulders. Concerned he was trying to hit you, you simply ducked under his arm, and his swift "move" failed as he spun around and lost his balance. You froze as laughs broke out of surrounding students but calmed when you determined they were primarily directed at the boy who was now flailing on the ground and trying to get up.

"Ok, I see how it is…playing hard to get. You haven't seen the last of me!" he yelped as his posse of friends pulled him away.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Ned almost shouted as you finally made her your up to the group. "I'm Ned, by the way. Peter's friend! Nice to meet you, what's your name?" Ned asked with his hand out.

"Hah, thanks. My name is Y/N, nice to meet you too." Ned was so forward, not at all like high school kids you saw in the movies.  _ Thank goodness, _ you thought.

"MJ," the girl on Peter's left said with arms crossed.

"Nice to meet you, MJ," you said with an even wider smile. You were already making friends - maybe this wouldn't be so bad. You had so many questions to ask them and so desperately wanted to get to know them.

"Uh, hey Peter, thanks for agreeing to help me today," you said, your voice smooth as you addressed him.

"Yeah. Well! We should get to the office and get your schedule," Peter interjected, promptly marching to the front doors with his mission in mind. You frowned at the concrete and nodded, concerned you did something to offend the boy. Pushing the thought aside you followed the trio through the doors and into the main hallway, where you weaved through groups of kids until you eventually reached a windowed office with a sign on the door reading "Main Office."

"Ok, the lady at the desk should have your schedule," Peter mumbled. "With that you're all set. See you around," he said and turned around, his friends shrugging, waving, and following just behind him. It didn't take long for Ned to whack Peter's shoulder back. Not nearly as hard as Peter did earlier since he lacked superhuman strength, but definitely hard enough to get Peter's attention.

"What the heck, man?" Peter spit out, turning to face his friend at his locker.

"Dude, you were a serious ass," MJ said, contributing more words than she had all day.

"Yeah," Ned nodded along, "What's up with you? You've been dark and weird all day."

Right then, you passed them in the hallway as you wandered to find your first class, smiling kindly with bright eyes as you waved. Ned grinned and waved back excitedly as ever while MJ did her classic one quick wave with a nod. Peter glanced up and made eye contact with you before immediately looking back into his locker, only to be slapped again by Ned and MJ on each shoulder simultaneously.

"OW!" Peter jumped. "Stop it, you guys!"

"We'll stop it when you stop being an ass," MJ replied, taking none of his attitude.

"She seems nice, Pete. Why are you being weird?"

"I'm not," Peter dodged. "I don't know what you're talking about." The first bell rang, meaning they had five minutes to get to class. Peter turned to escape this discussion as quickly as possible and walked off in the same direction you had, thankful he didn't share his first class with his friends.

"Literally saved by the bell," Ned shouted after him with an eye roll. "We'll get to the bottom of this Parker, you haven't escaped yet!"

\----------

The first class on your schedule was Chemistry. After that, you’d go to World History, English, and Computer Science before getting a break for lunch. Lastly, you had Precalculus and P.E. You found the first classroom without much problem and found a seat at a lab bench at the front of the room. You got back up to introduce yourself to the teacher per Steve’s advice (and Tony’s mocking) and were relieved that the teacher seemed to cut you a little extra slack as a new student. As you sat back down in your seat before class, Peter walked in. You looked up with round cheeks bookending your soft smile. When his eyes found hers as he looked for a seat, they widened briefly before darting to the ground _. I must've done something to upset him,  _ you thought. Shaking his weird behavior off, you focused on taking thorough notes and paying detailed attention despite it being only syllabus day. It kept your focus all the way until the bell marking the end of class rang and students exited. Before you could even find him, Peter vanished.

Walking into your World History class after a bit of searching, you found Ned. He quickly ushered you over to the seat next to him and started up a conversation immediately.

"Is that your schedule?" he probed, grabbing the paper when you nodded. "We have this class and the next one together! MJ is in the next one with us and you have fourth period with her. Then all four of us have precalc and P.E. together after lunch!" He told you all about the teachers and their quirks until the bell rang and you immersed yourself back in your note-taking.

This continued into the next class - English - but with MJ, too. Ned continued to do most of the talking with MJ sitting quietly, but you didn't mind. Ned was entertaining and incredibly friendly. Even MJ, though not talking much, was kind and had quite the sense of humor. They helped you feel like you fit right in.

The next two classes flew by and, before you knew it, you found yourself walking out of Computer Science with MJ. MJ lead the way to the cafeteria, where you spotted the back of Ned's head and Peter's face as the two boys sat across from each other at a table. Peter once again glanced up and quickly back down when MJ caught his eye with her assertive stare.

"Do you want to go sit with them?" You prodded, knowing something was off with the group and feeling you might be the cause of it.

"Nah, Peter's being a brat," She walked directly to an open table and sat down, you following her lead while keeping an eye on Peter and Ned. "Can I draw you?”

"Uh, sure, why?"

"Dunno. I like to draw people," MJ said, already opening to a blank page and pulling out her pencil to start the sketch. "Just sit still while you eat, ok?"

The two of you ate like this for the remainder of lunch until you noticed the it was almost time for the bell to ring to tell you to go to class.

"Hey, wait. Did you want to draw me just to get me to stop talking?" You joked shakily, partially concerned it was true. MJ only snorted as you stood up and walked to Precalculus. Once there, you sat next to each other again, this time right in front of Peter and Ned. You took your same thorough notes, repeatedly drawing raised eyebrows from MJ. The same occurred in P.E. The teacher showed an introductory video starring none other than Captain America, so no one was required to wear gym clothes. It seemed like an easy enough day for everyone else, but of course you brought your trusty notebook.

Eventually the final bell rang and the four of you headed out toward the front of the school where the day began. Happy and the same black car sat right outside, so you said goodbye to Ned and MJ while Peter sulked behind them before you trotted off to meet up with Happy. You headed home, answered some questions from Tony, Pepper, and Steve about how the day went, and got to starting some reading for homework. Tony asked if Peter was nice, of course, but you didn't throw him under the bus.  _ Maybe he was just having a bad day, _ you wondered.  _ Who knows? _

The rest of the week continued the same way. You headed to each class, furiously scribbled down notes, and talked mostly to Ned and MJ between classes. Peter still wouldn't talk much, so you started wondering if that was just his personality. On the other hand, MJ still wouldn't sit with him at lunch, each day calling him some variation of a "jerk." Flash continued to poke at you, suggesting you be friends with him. Needless to say, you kept ignoring him. He was appearing more and more like the school bullies you had seen countless videos of growing up and, though you consistently thought about saying something to him, you didn’t. At the end of each day, Happy would drive you home and you’d hang out with the Avengers - mostly Tony and Steve - for a bit before getting into homework and eventually going to bed. Training wouldn't start until the weekend, and boy were you happy for that. This first week was already draining. At the same time, however, you were excited to add something to your schedule as school was already feeling monotonous.

Until Friday, at least.

\----------

Peter stood at his locker before the first bell with Ned, who was talking to him about the Lego Death Star they were working on. Peter was initially embarrassed because they didn't talk about it much at school, but quickly worked past it as he thought back to the thrill of building it. They nearly finished the night before and planned to get it done over the weekend. Ned continued on about it as Peter's spider sense suddenly set him on edge. This happened occasionally at school but he tried to ignore it - what could possibly be going wrong on campus? Before he could think up an example, someone behind him pushed on his back and shoved him forward such that his head flew into his locker. Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath before backing out of the metal locker and turning around to face none other than Flash Thompson and his yes-men.

"W-What do you want, Flash?" Peter protested.

"I just want you to admit that you made up your Stark Internship to seem cool. We all know it's fake," Flash mocked. A group of students started gathering around them as the two boys and their pit crews practically occupied the hallway.

Trying to get to your first class, you almost bumped into the huddled group. More concerned about being late to class than about pushing people, you forced your way through the wall of students only to find yourself at the edge of an open space where Peter and Flash were tensely facing each other. Your eyes found Ned's as you tried to figure out exactly what was happening.

"Sh-shut up, Flash," Peter spat back, "the internship is real…and you're just...jealous."

"Me? Jealous?" Flash roared back, demanding the crowd’s attention. "Bullshit. I drive an Audi TTS Roadster and you walk to school. Why would  _ I _ be jealous of  _ you _ ?"

Ignoring every red flag waving in your head, you stepped in between them and finally faced Flash. "Hmm, I don't know," you mocked, "maybe because he doesn't feel desperate enough to keep hitting on the new girl that continuously turns him down? And because every other girl in school hasn't already turned him down? I don't know though, just a guess," you paused to let it sink in before going on. "Could also be that he doesn't have a weird name that sounds like a kindergartener made it up. Or that he has real friends. Again, just guesses."

"Oohs," "aahs," and "burn," were all heard from the crowd as you hastily pulled Peter and Ned away from the scene.

"What was that?" You asked. "Does that happen often? You know you could put him in his place without breaking a sweat, right? You are Spi-"

"SHHH!!" Peter and Ned simultaneously whispered, dragging you to an even quieter hallway around the corner. "No one knows but you, Ned, and the Avengers, remember?" Peter asked while also surveying the rest of the hall to make sure no one was listening.

"Yes, of course I remember. I just mean you could totally take him down. He's like a foot shorter than you and built like a pencil, after all.” Ned chuckled while a distracted Peter fidgeted.

“You could’ve gotten me exposed,” Peter whined as his eyes frantically darted around the hallway until the bell rang.

Ned wacked Peter again and scampered off to his first class. Now alone, you and Peter walked together to their first period chemistry class in silence. Your eyes traced your footsteps until you got to the main hallway where you were met with several high-fives from other students. When you reached the classroom, Peter opened the door and you sat down in your distant desks without another word.

Besides that incident, the rest of the day proceeded as usual. You went to World History, English, and Computer Science, enjoying sitting next to Ned and MJ despite the monotone lectures. Between classes, Ned couldn't stop retelling the events from the morning so MJ could experience them. He recounted the look on Flash's face being one of pure shock as if his beloved car was being towed. Though you weren’t super proud of your actions, this did put a smile on your face as you hadn't stayed at the scene long enough to see his reaction. From Ned's recounting, it seemed like your comments did exactly as you intended.

Peter, on the other hand, racked his brain all morning trying to figure out why you helped him.  _ It doesn’t make sense _ , he thought. Tony Stark didn’t walk around picking up 15- and 16-year olds and making them Avengers. He definitely didn’t bring her in just to be his buddy.  _ He must be ready to get rid of me _ , Peter determined,  _ and I can’t let that happen. _

\----------

Even from your distant lunch table, you could hear Ned steering his conversation with Peter to the morning drama. He couldn’t stop bragging about how amazing you were for standing up to Flash. MJ drew while you chuckled at Ned recounting what went down. Peter, however, remained unphased by Ned’s storytelling all the way up until their Precalculus class. The four of you sat down together as usual, you and MJ next to each other with Peter behind you and Ned behind MJ. Class was less than three minutes in when the teacher started describing a project you’d be working on with partners of your choice over the weekend.

Peter assumed he'd pair up with Ned - as always - and turned to face his buddy. But Ned, the good friend that he is, continued staring straight ahead and allowed only his eyes to slide over to see Peter staring at him expectantly. Deciding to follow through on his promise to get to the bottom of what was making Peter be so weird at the beginning of the week, he tapped MJ's shoulder.

"Hey, MJ? Wanna be partners for the project?" he asked. She shrugged and nodded before returning to her drawing. Accepting that as a yes, Ned turned slowly turned to face Peter, a massive grin plastered on his face. "Told you you wouldn't escape, spider-boy.”

Peter faced him with a grimace and glare, knowing exactly what his friend was doing. Friend, if he could call him that. You, meanwhile, were panicking internally.  _ Partner project? How did that work? _ Suddenly a finger tapped your shoulder and you turned around to face the brown-haired boy with dark brown eyes sitting behind you.

"Hey, um, Y/N? Do you…have a partner for the project already? F-for the project?"

"Uh...no, I don't. Do you?" Ned and MJ watched your forced interaction like a movie; all they needed was popcorn.

"No, I-I don't. Do you want to be partners? With, um, me?" Peter stuttered, eyes dancing around every surface of the room but her face.

"Yeah, sure," you answered. Ned and MJ to high-fived for their work, though you were oblivious to their involvement. Peter glared at both of them the rest of class, however.  _ Why would they make me be partners with her? _

Class eventually got out and the four of you walked from Precalculus to P.E. MJ and Ned planned to work on their project that afternoon and get it over with, an idea Peter was happy to springboard off of. The sooner he could get done with this partnership, the better.

"Do you...want to come to my apartment after school today? You know - uh, so we can get the project done?” he asked as you walked.

"Sure! I have to check with Tony but I'm sure it'll be ok." You and MJ split up from the boys to go in your respective locker rooms. Tony replied quickly with his approval and you made plans with Peter to walk to his apartment when school got out. Ned and MJ, of course, giggled the whole class period, much to Peter's annoyance.

School eventually got out for the weekend and you met Peter at the front doors of the school. The two of you walked a few minutes before you finally spoke up, once again ignoring all the red flags flying.

"I'm sorry, Peter,” you mumbled.

"Why--I mean--what are you s-sorry for?" His forehead scrunched and nose crinkled at your comment.

"I'm sorry you have to work with me. I know you don't like me."

You kept walking, unbothered by your comment, but Peter stopped in his tracks overtaken by confusion, thinking hard trying to put the pieces together.  _ She thinks I don't like her _ ?

"What do you mean?" he finally asked.

Hearing Peter's voice behind you, you stopped walking and turned around. You didn't know where he lived and were supposed to be heading to his apartment, after all.

"I  _ mean _ ," you said, "I know you don't like me. It's not hard to tell. So I'm sorry you have to work with me." You turned back around and kept walking, hoping it was still the right direction.

"Y/N, wait," Peter plead as he jogged up behind you and hesitantly tapped your elbow, only stopping you. "Please," he stressed, finally getting you to turn around. "I guess…I don't hate you. That's not what's going on."

"You  _ guess _ ? Then what  _ is _ going on?"

"I just...I…ok. Look. I've been the only kid at the compound for a few months, ok? I’ve been the only ‘Stark Intern.’ And Mr. Stark has done so much for me. I have him to thank for my suit and tons of other incredible things,” he explained, still staring at the ground.

"Um, ok…so?" You prodded, hoping for a fuller answer. Peter finally looked back up at you, your glowing eyes for what felt like the first time.

"So…when  _ you _ showed up, and Mr. Stark was all over  _ you _ on Monday at the compound? It…it made me think there could only be one of us. Mr. Stark went through enough heat when he first recruited me as one 14-year-old, but two? Why would he do that?" He almost shouted now but paused as a puzzled expression took over her face. Peter continued, his voice dripping with vulnerability. “I really, really want to be an Avenger someday to use my powers for good, and I think that you’re in my way.”

"Peter," you addressed, "Tony and Pepper  _ adopted  _ me. That's why I'm here. They want me to join the Avengers, yes, but I have zero fighting ability or powers or any abilities, really. I don't know what's going to happen in my future, but I will  _ never _ have superpowers. You've got me there. I wouldn't want your spot anyway. I mean, I don't even think there are "spots." They'll use whoever is ready, willing, and able to fight the threat at hand. Tony may have been criticized, but he recruited you for a reason and he kept you for a reason. Trust me, you have  _ nothing _ to worry about. I am zero threat to you. Or even less than zero, since I actually want to  _ help _ ."

You turned around and left Peter gaping. Had Mr. Stark mentioned that?  _ That’s quite a detail to forget _ , he thought. He realized then that he had been too preoccupied with the girl that was now walking off in the wrong direction to pay attention to what Mr. Stark may or may not have said that day.

"Hey, Y/N?"

"What, Peter?" You snapped back, frustrated that this boy either couldn't or wouldn't understand.

"My apartment is this way," he snickered, pointing across a crosswalk. You stormed back to him and slammed the button to change the lights so you could cross. You stood in front of him, arms crossed and face stern; he looked at the back of your head for the second time that day. This time, though, with a grin on his lips.

The light changed and you crossed, still silent. Eventually you reached the door to Peter's apartment building. But he hesitated before opening it to summon every bit of courage he had.

"Ok. My turn," he stammered, slowly as if the words wouldn't come out. "I'm really sorry if I seemed distant. It was stupid of me to think you were trying to take my spot. I-I promise I'm not normally like that, and I want to make it up to you. C-can we start over? Besides you roasting Flash in front of everyone, though. Because that? Yeah, that was legendary," he joked, relief coursing through him as she smiled and laughed.

"Sure, Peter, we can start over. That said...maybe I really am in your way,” you said, ripping open the door and racing inside before Peter could realize what was happening. He dropped his head back laughing at what he had gotten himself into and followed through the door. You eventually got to the apartment and headed inside to finally get to work on your project.

You spread out papers across the coffee table to start brainstorming. You then worked together, minds operating on the same wavelength, and burned through the majority of the project in a couple hours before deciding to take a break. You asked about the Lego Death Star Ned had been going on and on about for days, so Peter took her to his room to show you the sacred object.

"It's almost done," he explained, picking it up gingerly like it was his life's work. "There are just a few more pieces, and we're kind of worried we're missing--"

**"Do you think this is an important piece?"** You leaned down and reached under the bed to pull out a small Lego that caught your eye with a flicker of light at just the right angle. Standing up, you held the piece up to Peter, who promptly (yet gently) set the Death Star down and snatched it from your hand.

"Oh. My. Gosh. I gotta call Ned," he burst out. "We've been trying to find this piece for weeks!" He quickly got Ned on the phone and chatted for just a minute before turning back to you, sitting in his desk chair with eyebrows raised at him.

"We want you to do the honors," he offered, holding out the piece with a toothy grin.

"It's not the last piece," Ned piped up on speakerphone, "that one is too special. But you've been a badass today and deserve this. Big time."

Laughing to yourself at how oddly excited you were, you took the piece and placed it exactly where Peter instructed. It fit just right and was surprisingly exhilarating for everyone involved.

"I want to be here when you get it done now that I'm a contributor," you insisted as Peter hung up his call with Ned and you left his room to get back to the project.

"Um…duh."

Without a hitch, you and your fellow Avenger got back to tackling Precalculus. You finished your project - including the extra credit - before the sun even set. Before you knew it, Happy was waiting outside with his characteristic snazzy black car.

"Well," Peter said as he opened the apartment door for you, "that was efficient."

"We make a good team, Parker," you replied as the two of you fist-bumped.

"I'll see you…later?"

"Of course, goofball," you joked, trying to ease the tension that suddenly hung in the air.

Now it was Peter's turn to ignore red flags. It was awkward, he knew that, but he didn't want it to be that way. He wanted you to be smiling that soft smile where the corners of your eyes pinched so he knew it was real.  _ Gosh _ , he realized _ , I may have been trying to avoid her, but I was clearly paying attention _ . He thought about how girls would always hug each other at school -  _ that was normal, right? _ Your eyes flitted from him to out the door and he knew you needed to go. You looked back to him for a second, catching your breath to say goodbye. Before you could turn around and disappear down the stairs, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around you.

Your heart stopped for just a second before leaning in and wrapped your arms up around him. You had seen girls always hugging at school too, so this was normal.  _ Right? _ What you weren’t fully prepared for was feeling his heart pounding in his chest as he held you against him. You exhaled completely - relaxed, warm, safe - and felt your eyes drift gently closed as you rested your chin on his shoulder. It was as if any tension you didn’t even know existed melted away in that moment and Peter reveled in it. He barely knew you, but as his own eyes pressed closed and he held you close, he knew this was how it was supposed to be.

_ Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

Your phone lit up in your pocket and reminded you the real world existed. Pulling away just enough, you whipped it out and read the message, holding your phone between you and him. His nose was level with your forehead; the two of you still stood close enough that only the phone separated you from each other.

**Happy Hogan** : Are you coming?

Peter could read the text upside-down and his heart sank as your time was up. It was a weird feeling; he knew he'd see you again in two days but for some reason that felt too long. Both of you were still reeling from the hug - yes, the  _ hug _ \- so simple and innocent yet it just felt  _ right _ . Both of you fought grins trying to widen across your faces as you didn't want to be too eager. Both of your eyes danced around the room, down to their shoes, and briefly to each other's eyes, unsure of what to do now.

_ Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

"I…I have to go…" you whispered, gaze down but gradually finding its way to meet Peter's as you stared up through your eyelashes. Peter wasn't much taller than you, but it was just enough that with your chin down as it was now, you looked up at him with huge eyes that he believed held the world. He nodded. "Bye, Pete."

"Bye, Y/N," he echoed, holding the door as he watched you slip out and walk toward the stairs. You looked back halfway down the hall, still walking, but waving back at Peter, both of you still struggling to keep smiles off your faces as the corners of your lips twitched up. You made your way down the stairs and met Happy, who held the car door open for you and closed it behind you before getting in the front seat.

"Hey, kid," he asked, noticing your distant stare in the rear-view mirror. "You good?"

"Yeah," you answered, meeting his reflection before looking back out the window at the city. “Really good, actually. Thanks, Happy." As you drove through the city and back out toward the compound, you re-traced the events of the day in your head, trying to determine if it had all been a dream or if it was really reality for the second time that week.

\----------

As soon as you disappeared down the stairs, Peter closed the door and stood just inside his apartment with everything still pounding. He instinctually leaned his back up against the inside of the door as he pulled his phone out and scrolled through his contacts, then slid down until he was sitting on the floor while the phone rang.

"Ned?" he asked as soon as his friend picked up, "I'm in trouble."


	6. Training Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s day one of training. Can you handle it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy sorry this took forever, I hope you like it!! More coming soon. As always, Please let me know what you think, if you like it or not, if you have tips, etc. I'm new to writing and really appreciate it!! Most of all, enjoy :)

The sun creeping had been your cue to wake up as long as you could remember. It signaled the day starting and the world warming up for you to tackle whatever came your way. Today, however, you didn’t need the sun to wake you up. You were wide awake long before it was. Today was your first training day. You were starting at 7 am in the gym with Steve yet here you were - dressed, wide awake, and completely ready to go - at 6:15 am.

Your shoes squeaked slightly in the hallway as you wandered to the gym. You thought you knew where it was, but Tony’s tour was also quite fast and the compound was quite large and it had been quite the week so far. Though you budgeted time for all the possible things that could go wrong, you were essentially only going downstairs and found the gym with ease. It was only 6:40. _Oops._

From the hallway, anyone walking by could see inside the gym through the windows that ran its entire length. Reaching these windows, you peeked in and saw Steve sitting up from the bench press. There were too many plates on the bar to count ( _did Steve even need to lift weights to stay ripped?_ ) but of course he was barely sweating. As you ducked in the door, incompetence swept over you. You weren’t sure you had ever felt so weak. It was easy to feel overwhelmed on day one in a gym built for superheroes.

“Y/N! Good morning, soldier! You ready to get going?” _Did he ever take breaks?_

“Yes, sir.”

“Ok,” he replied, “but first thing’s first. You’re on the team. We’re teammates. You don’t have to call me sir. I’m helping you because you’re new, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less valuable than me. So, call me Steve or whatever else you’re comfortable with. But not sir. Got it?” He spoke sternly yet his eyes glistened with encouragement. The tops of your shoulders dropped as the tension you didn’t know you were holding began to melt away. Here was Captain America himself telling you that you are just as valuable to the Avengers as he is. _Bullshit,_ you heard the voice in your head say. Maybe it was right, though. _How on earth could I be as vital to the team as a super-soldier_?

“Yes, sir,” you sputtered, “I mean - um - Mr. Rogers?”

“Try again.”

“Steve?”

“Better. But it’s not a question. We’ll work on it,” he winked. “Let’s get going!” You followed him to the matted front corner where he led you through a series of stretches. You felt stiff from sitting in a chair all week at school but weren’t sure just how stiff until everything seemed to be pulling with each and every stretch. He even found a way to stretch muscles you didn’t even know you had. “Alright, now we’ll go for a jog to get the heartrate up and then come back for weights. That’ll be our routine each day: stretch, cardio, weights, cool down. Sound good?”

“Yes sir--Steve,” heat crept up to your face as you pressed your lips together and chastised yourself. “Dang it!”

Steve only chuckled. “You’ll get it, kid!” He patted your shoulder and nodded his head toward a door in the back. “Come on.”

You followed him yet again, first to the wall of windows facing outside and then to the door in the corner. The fresh air outside felt brisk but soothing as you breathed it in. The moon hid in plain sight up above while the sun approached slowly from the east. Your eyes swept across the sky’s gradient of colors - dark blue overhead softening to light blue and even to an orange glow at the horizon - until you found the tree line and Steve’s back already way ahead of you.

You raced to catch up, but jogging with a man - no, super soldier - that tall pushed your limits. By the time you did catch up, you weren’t sure you had much left in your tank.

“I was worried you changed your mind!” he joked, breath as normal as if he...well, as if he weren’t running.

“Nope,” you panted, “it’ll take a lot more than a jog to get me out of here!” Finding your footing more easily with your muscles warmed up, you let habit take over and fell into your running routine from home. The pace was quicker given you had a high-level partner, sure, but the sensation of feeling like you owned the world came back as you entered trails in the trees behind the compound. You fell in behind Steve as the trail narrowed and immediately found distraction from your fatigue in the way the light shined down through the forest canopy. It was as if the forest glowed with minimal sunlight trickling in.

The further you adventured into the forest, the further behind Steve you sensed you were falling. You could feel your legs straining - this was longer than your jogs at home - and your ability to use the scenery to distract you from the strain in your breath was fading. Not having much experience in pushing yourself this hardon your own runs, doubt wormed its way in to your thoughts. _You’re not strong enough to be an Avenger. You can’t even keep up on day one! Tony and Pepper wasted so much time and energy looking for a kid only to end up with you. They’re probably so disappointed--_

“Almost there, kid, you got it! Hard as you can - we’re in the home stretch!”

Though you were embarrassed by how the ease with which he spoke compared to your inability to respond at all, you pushed. The building of the compound became visible again as the dense forest began to open up. The buildings approached slowly - you could feel yourself dragging - but you were approaching and that was all that mattered. _You were almost there._

Steve was less than 100 meters ahead of you now, trotting effortlessly and still without a bead of sweat on his shirt. He slowed and faced you just outside the building, immediately beckoning for you run all the way to him. “Sprint the last bit! You can do it!”

Summoning every last bit of energy you didn’t know you had, you pushed as hard as possible, feeling the air rushing past your face with every step propelling you forward. You had a new distraction: the closing distance. 90, 80, 70 meters. _Faster_. 60, 50, 40 meters. _Almost there._ 30, 20, 10 meters. You were going to make it.

You closed the gap and ran all the way up to the compound wall, gently crashing into it to stop your momentum. The building’s cool metal shocked you as it completely contrasted your warm skin. Despite feeling overtaken with aching muscles, one thought crossed your mind: _you did it_. Once again the stress coursing through you lessened, allowing your eyes to soften shut as you tried to regain your breath. _You did it_.

“Way to go!” Steve said with his hand up, suggesting a high-five to which you happily obliged once you pried yourself from the comfort of the cool wall. He held the door back into the weight room open as you wobbled inside. “I pushed you a little harder than I planned because you seemed up to the challenge, and you did great. You did a good job, kid. Now - are you ready for weights?” _Oh, yeah. Weights._

“You bet,” you huffed as he grinned and raised his eyebrows. “I could do this all day.” He grabbed his chest and burst out laughing, beaming at you while you hunched over, smiling but working hard to get your breath back.

Back in the gym, he walked you through the different things you’d be trying. Thankfully, today was primarily form so you didn’t hurt yourself with the weights. He taught you to squat, bench press, and use all sorts of gym equipment you never saw before. There were ropes and bars shaped like hexagons and medicine balls that (obviously) had no medicine in them. It was almost like learning to play with a bunch of difficult toys. Steve’s twinkling eyes as he would pull out new gear for each exercise showed he felt the same way about them.

“One more--nice!” You stood up from your last squat and Steve helped you replace the weight on the rack as your legs teetered underneath you. He handed you a bottle of water as you turned around to follow him back to the stretching area. Your head, your eyes, your shoulders, your arms, your knees - every part of you drooped. You were wiped out; your heart was beating fast but weakly from the tough morning.

“Morning, bud! You just warming up?” Steve questioned, sending a chill down your spine as you realized you might not be done after all. Your eyes shoot up, preparing to glare at him with another goofy quip - you were really enjoying those, you noticed - when your gaze fell on someone else. Peter stood in the stretching corner in a plain black t-shirt and shorts with a black hat on backwards to organize his curls. The glare vanished along with any confidence you had a moment ago.

“Yes, Mr. Rogers, I’m finishing up right now.” His attempt to focus on Steve as he spoke was mostly in vain.

“No rush, kid, I have to finish cooling down with Y/N. But hey - like I told her this morning,” he gestured toward you, “don’t call me Mr. Rogers. It’s Steve--”

“Or a nickname of my choice,” you piped up with a smile as the brightness started coming back to your eyes.

“Yes. Or a nickname of your choice,” he chuckled along with Peter before pointing between the two of you. “You two did meet, right?”

Peter made eye contact with you with eyes almost as wide as yours had characteristically been with all the shocks that week. _“Met”_ _is an understatement_ , Peter thought as the night before and his subsequent conversation with Ned flashed through his mind.

_“Ned?” Peter asked as soon as his friend picked up. “I’m in trouble.”_

_“What do you mean? Spider-man trouble?” Panic laced his voice as he sprinted to his house phone to call the police. “Where are you dude?”_

_“Ned, no, everything is fine…it’s—” the line fell silent as Ned sat on the other end of the line with bated breath. If something was going down, he was ready to jump into guy-in-the-chair mode._

_“Ned, I…I don’t…I don’t know, but…ugh, I don’t know.” He sat completely slouched against his door, head heavy in one hand while the other pressed the phone into his ear, knuckles white from his nervous grip._

_“Peter, what the hell is going on?”_

_“You know how you made Y/N and I be partners on the project?”_

_“OMIGOSH! YOU FELL IN LOVE! THIS IS THE GREATEST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO ME! I--”_

_“No, Ned, I—wait, this is the greatest thing? Not me being Spider-Man?”_

_“HA! You just admitted it! Peter and Y/N sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G—"_

_“Ned! Shut UP! It’s not true. I just…I don’t know what to do. Ok?”_

_“Pete, the answer is simple. You’re Spider-Man. And she_ knows _it. Ask the girl out!_

_“Don’t use the Spider-Man thing on me. I get to wear a mask for that.”_

_“Could you ask her out wearing the mask?”_

_“No, Ned, I’m not going to ask her out while wearing the mask. Let’s explore other options. First, I need to figure out what’s going on.”_

_“Ok. Start by telling me everything.”_

_“Everything? Ok, well we met at Stark tower—”_

_“No, dummy,” Ned interrupted. “You told me all that last week. Start from when you left school.”_

_“Oh, right. Well, we were walking to my house—"_

In any case, Peter felt bad about putting you through the ringer all week after misreading your intentions. You smiled warmly at him, however, as you both nodded silently and a little too aggressively in response to Steve’s question. You both simultaneously looked back at Steve expectantly, hoping he would tell you what to do. _Remind me to ask Tony why kids these days are so strange_ , Steve thought.

Steve showed you a series of stretches to go through while Peter kept warming up in the corner. Eventually, with your breath back, you thanked Steve and nodded to Peter just as JARVIS’ voice boomed down from the speakers.

“Miss Anderson? Mr. Parker?”

“Yes, JARVIS?” you replied, having become relatively familiar with the AI during your first week. You felt weird about him using your last name since it was basically assigned to you and asked him to use your first name.

“Whenever the two of you finish your respective sessions of ‘Getting Swole with Steve,’ Mr. Stark would like to see you in his laboratory.”

A loud snort escaped your nose and you didn’t even try to hold it back. “JARVIS, did Tony make you say that?!”

Moments passed before JARVIS finally answered, the quieter volume expressing nothing but embarrassment. “...yes…” was all he uttered as you laughed and waved to the boys.

“Thank you, Steve, and I’ll see you later, Pete.”

“R-right. See ya,” Peter sputtered. _Did she just call me Pete?_ He wondered.He stood quietly as you turned away until Steve elbowed him in the ribs, noting the boy’s distraction.

“You ready to get swole with Steve, or are you just going to stand there?” Steve’s snicker and steps leaving behind him lead Peter to follow him to the racks and attempt to immerse himself in the workout.

 

* * *

 

 

You pressed your thumb up against the scanner outside Tony’s lab and walked through the door when it clicked and slid open. Tony was initially nowhere to be seen, but you followed the sounds of metal clinking against metal. It wasn’t hard to find him tinkering on a bench and manipulating hologram after hologram in front of him. 

You waited a little way from him, afraid to interrupt his train of thought. “What took you so long? You get swole?” he asked, focus on the task in front of him unwavering.

“I--uh--” you sputtered. He lifted his eyes and brows up to you, briefly enjoying your unnecessary panic. At a certain point, he couldn’t keep the grin off his face and chuckled while walking around the table separating you.

“Seriously, it went ok?”

“Yes! I couldn’t breathe. But I suppose that’s the point. You know, cellular respiration and stuff.”

“Yes, I know,” he smiled and chuckled again, “Cellular respiration _and stuff_.”

“Well, you wanted me?”

“Yes! We’re going to tinker with some suits. You are going to get some hands-on experience, kiddo!” Despite seeing your wide eyes multiple times with everything that happened that week, he still couldn’t figure out exactly what they meant. “What? Are you excited? Terrified? Shocked? Don’t kids say shaken or something nowadays?" 

“Shook?”

“Sure. Shook. Are you that?”

You continued staring without breaking eye contact. “Let me ask you this. Say you’ve never left one city in your entire life and suddenly the world-famous Tony Stark comes and adopts _you_. Within a week a week he asks you to work on his own suits. How would _you_ feel?” You had definitely gotten snarkier with him over the course of that week, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

“Well,” he thought out loud, “that would be revolutionary. If I, _Tony Stark_ , was adopted by _Tony Stark_ , I think I’d be both confused by the circumstances and excited about the prospect of cloning. That’s an odd way to feel, but good for you.” You rolled your eyes aggressively and followed him as he turned to walk off.

“I saw that.”

When you reached the right wall of the lab from the door main door, Tony used his finger to get into a side-room. But it wasn’t just a side room; that was evident as soon as his identity was confirmed and the door slid open. Lights flashed on immediately, illuminating countless iron suits in cubbies lining the perimeter of the room. He stopped as your gaze scanned the room and you walked right past him. You wandered around, admiring the suits; some were damaged slightly while others appeared to have never left the lab. A couple in particular all in a row caught your eye. They weren’t built quite like the others. The leftmost one was taller and longer while covered mostly with blues and silvers.

“That one’s Pepper’s,” he said, walking up behind you. The two of you admired it, barely marked. “The scrapes are from the one time she wanted to practice with it in case of emergency. The emergency ended up being her trying to fly.” He laughed again, but your eyes were already moving to another different suit to the right. This suit was similar in design but painted with a deep eggplant purple, silvers, and even white accents that lined the panels of the suit. It caught your eye when you first walked in.

“That one’s yours,” Tony said, scooting over from Pepper’s suit while you looked at him with crinkled eyebrows.

“Isn’t that a little...premature?” you asked.

“You don’t want it? That’s ok, I’m sure I can find someone who does.” He shrugged and turned to go.

“What? No, how could I not want it?” He turned back around with a wink. “Oh. Messing with me. Well...I do want it, ok? Just seems like I have no skills yet.”

“I know.” To your dismay, he shrugged, agreeing with you. He snorted quietly and walked off to another group of suits. You rolled your eyes again before trotting off to catch up. Whatever increasing snarkiness you were developing, he surely dished it back out.

He asked JARVIS to move the suit in front of him to the lab to work on it. As it moved out of its display and into the light, you recognized instantly whose suit it was. Whose suit you’d be working on.

The emblem on the front. The webbed grid design. The wrist attachments. The suit belonged to Spider-Man. To Peter. To Peter Parker.

Back at the bench, JARVIS pulled up the suit specifications, Tony’s notes, and video of Spider-man - err, Peter - fighting crime in his current, homemade sweatshirt-suit thing. Today, he just wanted to show you a draft of the AI’s code, brainstorm a little, and test out some features.

You sat in a spinning bench chair and scanned through the documents one-by-one while Tony got to work. Once oriented, he slid the keyboard to you and walked you through the basic programming.

“What is this--” you paused, pointing at one of the programs on the screen, “Training Wheels Protocol?”

Tony snorted as you turned around to look up at him standing over your shoulder with his face buried in one hand while the other sat on his hip. “You weren’t supposed to see that. You see, Peter thinks he can save the world. But he’s 15 and wears a sweatshirt and swim goggles. So, I have to reel him in a little. We’ll just focus on the other parts of the operating system.” He paused briefly. “But that’s between you and me, got it?” He asked, amusement replaced by concern.

“Sure, got it.”

You scrolled through subsequent pages involving different types of webs for the web-shooters as well as the different functions of the visual in the mask. There were some blanks, however, and Tony explained that this is where he wanted your help. Your job was to come up with more web types the suit could have. The mask would have the same general functioning as his Iron Man helmet, so that part of the suit was mostly finished. But the webs? Iron Man’s suit didn’t have those.

You watched video after video of Spider-Man fighting crime all over Queens to try and come up with some new type of web. Peter’s homemade webs had insanely high tensile strength, supporting incredibly heavy weights while remaining very durable and elastic. Tony had a few ideas for modifications but thought this was a great opportunity to get you some experience. The video you were watching now showed Spider-Man wrapping up a criminal like a mummy. He spent minutes making sure the criminal was completely contained and unable to escape. You knew there had to be a quicker way to trap the bad guys. _What if there were a bunch of them?_ He had to be able to web them up more quickly. What about a wider net? One that could cover more targets?

“What does that face mean?" 

“Huh?” You stuttered, turning away from the video feed. You caught sight of the clock - you had been watching these videos over an hour now.

Tony’s eyebrows furrowed and a sly grin spread across his face. “You were sticking your tongue out a little and squinting really aggressively. Like an old person solving a puzzle while struggling on the toilet!”

“Am I interrupting something?”

Peter stood by the door and he stared at you and Tony with a blank yet confused expression. He had just showered after his workout; his slick hair reflected the light and shined under the lab lights. He wore jeans with a gray t-shirt and blue and gray flannel on top, covered on his shoulders by the straps of his backpack. 

“No, of course not. I was just telling Y/N about her old person pooping face,” Tony explained, instantaneously bringing an intense heat to your face. Peter raised his eyebrows and looked to you as you cowered with your head in your hands on the bench in front of you to muffle a laugh you couldn’t hold back. Peter smiled as you sat up with an eye-roll at Tony, whose own expression was smug as ever.

“Poop faces aside,” Tony started, poking your shoulder while shifting his attention to Peter, “we’re working on a little something I’ve been putting together for you. JARVIS?” The suit rolled back out from around the corner. Peter’s jaw dropped, the spider logo on the front immediately drawing him in. The sleek red and blue fabric had dark lines running in a grid across the front and to a point on the mask, which had mesh eyes outlined by a thick black border. His backpack hit the floor and you watched as he walked up to it, inspecting everything from those mesh eyes to the characteristic web shooters on the wrists. You couldn’t help but smile as he walked around the suit in awe, admiring every detail, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Is this--for me?” he finally faltered, still unable to take his gaze off the suit.

“Technically it’s for Spider-Man, but sure,” Tony answered. “I’ve installed basic software and AI on it, but Y/N and I have been brainstorming ideas for more features.” At the sound of your name Peter’s eyes widened and shot up to you, the screen in front of you paused but still showing Spider-Man wrapping up the mummy criminal.

“Um, yeah,” you stammered. “I have a few ideas for new web types, actually.” You grabbed the notepad off the bench and turned back to face them. You glanced at Tony, who nodded. “I noticed it takes a while to wrap webs all the way around bad guys sometimes, so I thought it would be good to have a different web to more efficiently restrict the criminal in case there’s more than one or...something.”

“So,” you hesitated, suddenly afraid your ideas weren’t good enough. _Better to have bad ideas than to have no ideas,_ you told yourself to push those fears aside. “I have a couple ideas to improve this. First, a web shaped like a net. It could wrap around the bad guy and link to itself on the other side to completely encase the criminal or whatever you’re trying to web up. Sec--”

“Let’s do it,” Tony interjected. 

“You don’t...you don’t want to hear my other ideas first?” you asked, disappointment threatening to crack your voice.

“Oh, I want to hear them all. But I can see that being applicable in the field so I think we should go for it. Peter? Thoughts?”

“I…I really like it,” the boy nodded excitedly. “Y-you said you had other ideas, too?”

Your heart swelled _._ It wasn’t even your best idea. You looked from Peter’s gaze back to your list, stretching up taller in your chair, inflated by new-found confidence. “I also thought of a web that would ricochet? You know, so you could shoot it around a corner. And then a tracker web that would be really small and barely visible but would contain a small GPS tracker the suit could follow. And a split web that could fire out to multiple targets across your field of vision? That might be a little more difficult because you’d need software to detect targets, but based on self-driving car technology that can detect the presence of pedestrians-”

“Woah, woah, woah, kiddo. You’ve only been working for an hour. I don’t expect you to have all the details sorted out,” Tony reassured.

“You came up with all this...in _one_ hour?” Peter questioned, nearly speechless.

“Yep,” you nodded slowly, “If you don’t like them, I can spend some more time reviewing videos or-”

“They’re so cool...I love them,” he muttered, voice floating through the air.

“Ok! Well,” Tony asserted, slicing through the momentary silence as he stepped between you and Peter. He pulled the suit off the mannequin and held it out for Peter. “Before too many sparks fly and everything flammable in here combusts, why don’t you step out and try this on so we can test out the basic features already installed?”

“Uhh, yeah, ok,” Peter said as he snatched up the suit and darted off to change, excitement and embarrassment working together to get him out of there as quickly as possible.

“Sooooo…?” Tony prompted once the door to the bathroom closed behind Peter. “Do I need to give you the talk?” 

“Give me the talk?” you asked, puzzled by the phrase. “We’ve been talking, I don’t understand-”

“I forgot you lack some culturing. You know,  _the talk_. The birds and the bees.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “The _sex_ talk.”

All the blood drained from your face and your heart stopped beating. You visibly shook it off, heat now returning to your cheeks in excess. “No. You don’t need to give me that talk and I don’t know what would lead you to believe I need it,” you squeaked, eyes looking anywhere but his.

“Are you kidding? You couldn’t feel the _electricity?”_ he mocked with jazz hands, smirking at your obvious discomfort.

“Electric webs!” you burst out, thankful for this lightbulb idea as a means to change the subject. “We could make webs with an electric current!”

“Sure, that’s actually pretty cool,” Tony answered. “But we’re going to talk about-”

“This...is so...awesome!” Peter said as he walked out of the bathroom. He stared down at his hands, flipping them over as he strode toward the workbench where Tony stood over your shoulder. The eyes of the suit were changing with what had to be his expression, you determined, as he tested out all the AI software within the mask. He bumped into the mannequin the suit came off of before looking away from the suit itself for the first time. The eyes stretched even wider as the AI analyzed his surroundings and data filled his visual field. 

“Shall we?” Tony said, gesturing over to an open space he kept for testing suits. It looked like the floor gymnastics performed on - in terms of size, at least - but had Dum-E and U positioned nearby with fire extinguishers and video equipment. You made your way over with Tony and Peter, who still couldn’t believe what he was wearing. “Ok Pete. Let’s have you just test out the web shooters first. I kept your formula the same for the basic web so it should work the exact same as your dumpster-diver tech.”

Peter was still too much in awe to be offended. He shot the web at the wall, where it quickly splattered out as usual. “Y/N, you wanna grab one of those dodgeballs?” Tony prompted. There was a bin of dodgeballs off to the far side, so you trotted over and tossed one in front of Peter on Tony’s cue. He aimed perfectly; the web struck the ball and pinned it to the wall just left of the first shot. You tried this repeatedly, Peter doing flip after flip or swinging from the ceiling to web another ball to the wall. Tony started designing trick shots, where you’d bounce the ball off of something or Peter had to try and do it with only one hand.

You reached into the bin and noticed there were only two dodgeballs left. “Last one!” you exclaimed while your mind tried to craft the best trick shot for last. “Ok, Pete, you’re going to start hanging upside down from the ceiling.  I’m going to slam the ball down on the floor as hard as possible, at which point you’re going to open your eyes and do whatever you can to web the ball to the wall while shooting your web _through_ Dum-E’s hula hoop.” You weren’t sure why Tony had a hula hoop, but it was definitely helping you make trick shots for Peter. What he wouldn’t know is that you were planning to bounce both the remaining dodgeballs and see if he could react quickly enough to get both webbed up. “Got it?”

“Ok, yeah, yeah, I got it!” Peter shot his web up to the ceiling and got himself situated upside down, hanging by his feet. As soon as he said his eyes were closed, you showed Tony the two balls left and rolled one to him with a wink. Being the trickster he was, it wasn’t hard for him to figure out your intentions. You mouthed the countdown so you could both bounce your dodgeballs as simultaneously as possible: “ _three...two...one…”_

You and Tony threw your dodgeballs down at the ground as hard as you could, the bounce sending them shooting into the air. The sound of rubber bouncing on the concrete floor - just like it did on school playgrounds - echoed throughout the lab as Peter’s eyes shot open and he literally jumped to action. He spotted the ball closer to you first, swinging down to his right while locating Dum-E’s hoop. In his periphery he saw the surprise second ball nearing its peak but didn’t lose a second turning around and firing a web toward the first ball through the hoop. You jumped as it hit the wall, but he didn’t have time to stop and celebrate. He aerialed toward Tony and the second ball, leaping up on the close to get just the right angle to aim through the hoop. He landed in a squat supported by his right hand while his left struck out and fired the web at the last second. It shot through the air, impacting the ball through the hoop and sticking it to the corner between the wall and the ceiling. He leapt up, tugging off the mask, throwing his hands in the air, jumping up and down, and flooding with excitement. Tony mirrored his enthusiasm, springing out of his chair and stepping forward to celebrate with bro-hug and high-five.

You bounded over to them, arms wide open and yelling all the same. Peter broke off from Tony, turning to face you with mirrored wide arms and elation. “That was _amazing!!_ ” you exclaimed as you collided with Peter, practically jumping into his outstretched arms. Your feet left the ground for half a second and you spun - both literally as Peter turned and in your head. You leaned back, feet returning to the floor, and placed your each of your hands on his shoulders as he let you slip from his grip ever so slightly.

“How on Earth did you do that? How did you see the second ball? I thought there was no way-”

“Spidey senses,” he joked, pulling his hands from you and wiggling his fingers in the air with a smirk.

“You two make a good team,” Tony piped up, causing you to instantly step back from Peter and link your hands behind your back. Peter once again mirrored you, struggling to look at Tony’s knowing grin. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’m going to start engineering Y/N’s ideas for the new web formulas, but that’s all the science I had planned for you two today. Nat is expecting you pretty soon in the combat training room. Parker, if you’d put the suit back on the model so I can work on it that’d be swell. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, you crazy kids.” With another wink, he turned and walked into a side room that functioned as his office, the door shutting softly behind him.

Peter turned to you, huffing from all his leaps in the suit now that the adrenaline was wearing off. “More?” he asked, his eyebrows elevated. You shrugged, mirroring his disdain. He inhaled deeply and cocked his head to the side as he sighed. “Well, I guess we better get going. Wanna wait up while I change?”

“Sure!” you answered, still standing where he set you down. As soon as the bathroom door closed behind him, a firm finger poked your shoulder. Dum-E’s mechanical arm hovered beside you. “Dum-E thinks Mr. Parker has a crush on you,” JARVIS announced.

You shushed JARVIS and pushed Dum-E away hastily as the bathroom door swung back open to reveal Peter dressed once again in training clothes. “Ready?” you asked.

He nodded and the two of you set off down the hallway and around the corner quietly just as when you walked together to Peter’s after school the day before. Only your footsteps echoed through the halls, but the silence lacked discomfort. That didn’t mean you didn’t _want_ to be talking.

“So…have you worked with Nat before?” you prompted.

He turned to you as if surprised you were talking to him before quickly rebuilding his composure. “Uh, yeah, a few times. But most of my fighting skills come from the spidey senses and knowing how to use the webs.” You watched him as he spoke, nodding along and listening intently. “Have you fought before?”

You snorted and burst out laughing. Here you were, an Avenger, and you can’t take seriously the thought of yourself in a fight. “No,” you finally spit out, “literally never. Not even an argument. I’m a wimp.”

“Aw, come on. What about standing up to Flash the other day and—”

“That was the _most_ _daring_ thing I’ve _EVER_ done!” you shouted, still laughing as you reached the wall of windows looking into the combat room. It looked exactly like the weight room, but instead of racks, there were large mats for fighting on, punching bags, and a boxing ring in the corner.

Peter chuckled and reached out to open the door for you. He grinned as you thanked him and walked in. “Are you sure you aren’t hiding super-secret insane combat skills? Are you hustling the Avengers?”

“Trust, me, no,” you laughed over your shoulder. “I am as far from super-secret insane combat skills as you could ever get.” Peter shrugged and started to say something as Nat walked over but he didn’t get the words out. All he could do was shake his head with a mocking smile as you glanced over one last time before your session with Nat got going.

“Hope you guys have a little energy left. Nothing too much today since you haven’t fought before, Y/N,” Nat explained.

You turned to Peter with an “I told you so” look at which he only – once again – shrugged.

“The plan for today is to have Peter with punch mitts working on blocks while I teach Y/N how to punch.”

Peter strapped on the mitts while Nat wrapped your hands. She spent a few minutes working on your form – thumb outside your fist, being tight and compact, etc. – before demonstrating. She positioned Peter a few feet away from her and wound up, forcefully swinging her right fist into Peter’s right mitt. He absorbed the blow, but as soon as Nat turned back to you, he mouthed “ow!” to you and shook his hand out. It took every ounce of your willpower to stop the laughter bubbling up inside.

After a few punches on the punching bag, Nat had you positioned across from Peter to start throwing punches. “To get started, I’ll tell you where to hit. For this first one, go right-left-right.” You turned to Peter and met his gaze before quickly looking down at your targets. With a deep breath, you swung right, then left, then right, each of which Peter blocked squarely on the mitt. You straightened up and Nat gave you a few more pointers while repositioning your elbow.

“Again. This time, Left-left-right.” You weren’t exactly sure how to do two punches back-to-back from the same hand but found that a quick step back in between worked well. Once again, Peter swiftly blocked your jabs with ease. He knew where they were coming from, of course, but the fluidity of his response was striking.

“Good. Now I’m only going to tell Y/N and Peter has to dodge for himself.” Nat walked over to you and cupped her hand to whisper in your ear. “Left-right-right-left,” she breathed, stepping back. You looked back to Peter.

“You better block these, Parker, because if we have to explain to everyone at school that I gave you a black eye over the weekend—”

“Not going to happen,” he joked, gesturing as well as he could with the mitts on for you to square up. “Bring it.”

You stepped up, taking a deep breath before drawing your eyes from his face to the mitts. You swung out your left fist, then your right twice, all of which he blocked with elegant dexterity. You took the final swing with your left arm, which he didn’t expect given that the other trials had only three punches, and he barely blocked it with the edge of the mitt. You stepped back and rolled your head to each side as he grinned cockily back at you.

“Good. Again.” Nat walked up to whisper again the series of punches for you. “Whatever you want. Try to land one,” she encouraged with a thumbs up. _Try to land a punch on Peter_ , you repeated in your head. Those were your instructions. You weren’t sure you wanted to.

Then you turned back to Peter, who continued to stare at you with the same cocky grin and stare from only moments ago. “Like I said, bring it on, Y/N,” he baited as you stepped into position.

This time, you skipped the deep breath, not hesitating for even a moment before going through the series Nat had already given you. Right-left-right, left-left-right; you made up a few new combinations to try and catch him off-guard. He blocked each and every punch easily, smack in the center of the mitt. Your arms started feeling heavier by the second and you knew you didn’t have much gas left in your tank. This worked in your favor, though, as your arm sagged while you punched and your fist dropped just below Peter’s mitt, striking his stomach.

He grabbed the spot of impact as he fell back a little, never actually falling but wobbling back for a brief second, a smile spread across his face.

“Peter, I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt—why are you smiling?” you asked, confused why the boy you just punched seemed pleased while gripping his abdomen.

“Why am I smiling?” he chuckled and glanced at Nat, who looked at you questioningly with a similar smile on her face. “You got me! That was a great punch!” he exclaimed, pushing your shoulder.

“It was a good punch. Good job, Y/N. You learned a lot today, so I think we’ll call it there. Stretch for a minute while I go grab some ice for Peter.”

You walked through some of the stretches Steve taught you only hours earlier, already feeling the ache in your muscles. Nat returned only moments later and wrapped Peter up with the ice pack.

“Isn’t he going to need more than ice? I hit him kind of hard,” you confessed, hoping you didn’t do any damage.

“No, he’ll be fine,” Nat answered.

Not accepting that answer, you looked up to Peter’s eye line. “Spidey speed recovery,” he teased, wiggling his hands and fingers in the air again.” You rolled your eyes just as JARVIS’s voice came in over the loud speaker.

“Miss Romanoff, Director Fury is on the line and would like to speak to you in the conference room about a recon mission.”

“On my way. Kids, good job today. I’ll see you again later this week.” With that she stepped out the doors and jogged off down the hall.

“Um, I better head out, then,” Peter said, “May probably wants me home.”

“Oh, um, ok. I’ll...see you Monday?”

Peter walked toward the exit but stopped as he opened the door and looked back at you. “Yeah,” he smiled, peering deep into your eyes that stared up at him through your eyelashes just as they had the day before. “See you Monday.”

You waved and smiled as Peter stepped through the door and walked down the hall after Nat, waving again through the class windows. Once he was out of sight, JARVIS’s voice returned. “I agree with Dum-E,” he proclaimed, “Mr. Parker has a crush on you.”

“Piss off, robot,” you jeered, brushing him off as you walked toward the door to go upstairs, a tickled smile never vanishing from your lips.


	7. Plus One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More training, more time with the Avengers, and more school. What more could you ask for? Leave it to Tony to top it...in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to you all for sticking with me for so long while life got chaotic!!! I’m hoping to get on more of a schedule with this…maybe every Friday? We’ll see? As always, any feedback or honestly attention is so loved lol

Sunday felt far more laid-back than the day before. You woke up for breakfast and worked out with Steve a second time, going through the same routine but hitting other muscles you hadn’t worked the day before. You then headed off for a private session with Natasha, focusing on some kicking moves since – you had to admit – your arms and shoulders were feeling pretty sore.

Your legs felt heavier and heavier with each successive kick, but she continued to urge you on and push perfect form. The leg supporting you wobbled more and more. She taught you an additional step where you initially hop onto your right leg and then swing up your left, or vice versa. In your periphery you saw something move off to your right; it was soon paired with the bump of the door closing. You didn’t have the energy to look as Nat threw out the next sequence incorporating the new kick step. Sweat trickled from your temples and dripped off your jaw to the floor as you huffed, taking one final swing with each leg before slumping over with your hands on your knees and taking breaths as deep as your lungs would allow.

Slow clapping from over by the door bounced off the walls of the gym, pulling your attention away from your breath. Steve stood much taller than Tony next to him, but both of them grinned at you and smiled all the same.

“Are you sure you weren’t a kickboxer in a past life?” Tony joked.

“Your form is impeccable, kid. I can’t wait to have you out in the field!” Steve added.

“Woah, woah, woah, there, Spangles. I said she had a nice kick, not that I’m sending my daughter into battle."

You beamed at their praise but primarily at Tony calling you his daughter. Despite your high body temperature as a result of your workout, it still felt like your heart warmed at the thought of it.

“Two days in and she’s coming along,” Nat interrupted, patting you on the back. She grimaced at the moisture on your shoulder and grabbed a nearby towel to wipe. “A little sweaty but coming along quickly.”

“No fair!” You pouted, lower lip sticking out at her. “I’m the one who just busted my ass training with literal super-soldier-Avengers and you’re mocking me?”

“Language,” Tony said, his tone stern yet joking as he turned to Steve, who rolled his eyes and turned toward the door. Nat couldn’t keep down a giggle. “But whenever you’re done dripping, come on upstairs to the common room. Steve’s got a good refuel meal cooking for you and I have a little event coming up I’d like to tell everyone about. Ok? Ok.” He smiled with a thumbs up and walked out the door Steve held open for him. Steve popped back in briefly as Tony walked off toward the stairs.

“You look good, kid,” he commented with a thumbs up and wink before trotting off behind Tony.

“He’s right, you do. In the kicking way, at least. Go get showered before you head upstairs though. _Please_.” She offered you a quick high-five and followed behind the guys.

You couldn’t wipe the smile off your face as you hopped in the shower. Sure, your legs could barely support you and your arms felt like spaghetti. But one week ago, you didn’t know any of these superheroes. And now, they were complimenting you, and in Tony’s case, even calling you their daughter. Every time one of them called you “kid” or “kiddo” your chest practically swelled with pride.

After getting out of the shower with your hair still dripping (thankfully no longer with sweat), you slung your towel around your neck and walked upstairs. Each step felt like you were lifting cinder blocks up given the fatigue lingering in your legs.

 

“Ah, there be the lady!” Tony exclaimed. Thor, misreading the situation, raised his glass – of water, you noted – and said cheers before chugging it. Your head tilted to the side as you watched him before your eyes widened as you took in the already gathered group. Everyone you met previously was here as well as some you didn’t know who smiled anyway. Of course, seemingly hiding off to one side given his short and lean stature compared to the rest of the Avengers, Peter stood by the counter, literally twiddling his thumbs as his eyes darted between the you and god of thunder aggressively chugging his water.

Thor slammed his glass down on the counter when he finished, letting out a big “ahh” while everyone around him stared. You shook out your hair and tried to appear more presentable with the current company; you suddenly felt self-conscious in the over-size t-shirt and joggers you put on after your shower. Tucking a strand of wet hair behind one ear you glanced up and met Peter’s gaze, both of you smiling and you waving briefly as Tony took back the floor.

“I’ll get right to it – Pepper and I are going to host a little shindig/gala-type event next weekend for Stark Industries and – _surprise!_ – you all are invited! You’re welcome.”

Everyone cheered, thankful to have a night off and some free food courtesy of Tony and Pepper. Unsure exactly what this entailed, you hung on for details. Unbeknownst to you, Peter did the same. He didn’t know how he would fit in with the whole “internship” thing. He was also a kid and confused as to why he was invited.

“Fury thought we could all use a little time together and to present nicely to the people, so I figure this is a perfect opportunity. Plus, I will be taking it as an opportunity to show off my new prodigy of whom I am already very proud—” he and Pepper smiled as he indicated toward you. You felt yourself stretch up taller – the legendary Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were _proud_ of you! “Of course, given that there will be alcohol – again, _surprise!_ – you’re welcome to stay the night afterward on Saturday. Of course, you always are, since you have rooms here, but you know what I mean.

“It’ll be black tie, so plan accordingly, and you may have a plus-one. So those of you who have been lying about going on dates recently, consider yourselves exposed. For you married or steady folks I’ve already got your partners’ names down. And kids, technically you have plus-ones, but given the overwhelming tension and googly-eyes between you, I assumed you’d go together and already RSVP’d for you. Dinner starts at seven with doors opening and party starting at six.”

Your breath hitched and any heat you felt moments ago while working out multiplied exponentially and all rushed to your face. You stood, completely frozen, and staring at Tony as he shook hands with everyone leaving. You weren’t truly watching, though; your eyes nearly glazed over with embarrassment at what he just said. Finally, Tony, Pepper, and a likewise frozen Peter were the only ones left besides Steve, who was preoccupied making your lunch in the kitchen.

“What, exposure got your tongue?” Tony jeered. Pepper bit her lip, not quite in approval of Tony’s means despite loving the end.

You opened your mouth, hoping to at least stutter something out, but could not piece together a single word. Luckily Peter was stuck in the same motions, unable to make a sound.

“Calm down and pick your jaws up off the floor. You guys seem to have fun together and I don’t want random kids running around so this was my solution,” he explained. A smirk began to form on his lips. “But if you do fall hopelessly in love, no harm no foul.” He grabbed Pepper’s hand and they whipped around to head down the hallway before he paused for a second to shout one more thing to you. “After you eat lunch, kiddo, go ahead and come down to my lab, pretty please with cherries on top!” He winked and finally made his way out of the common area. 

Peter stared blankly at you, nearly paralyzed. Over his shoulder, Steve sensed the situation while finishing up your meal, and gently dropped a pan against the countertop to jolt the both of you from your bewildered states. You jumped, as did Peter (except slightly early, given his spidey senses), your eyes falling on Steve.

Peter shook his head and looked down. “I guess…I guess I should go…I have…homework,” he squeaked out. His discomfort brought a smile to your face, though you weren’t sure if it was discomfort in the same way you felt it or if he simply didn’t want to go with you and didn’t know how to say it. That second theory seemed to come out of nowhere but suddenly put a damper on the butterflies swarming only moments before.

“Me too,” you nearly whispered, now hurt by your own thoughts. “I’ll see you at school, Peter.” He shyly smiled and waved before ducking quickly down the stairs to head home. You pulled up a chair at the counter and threw yourself into it, your head falling into your hands with your elbows on the table while Steve slid a plate in front of you.

“He’s a good kid,” Steve hinted toward the door that just closed behind Peter, but you still refused to lift your head. He ruffled the hair on your head and pulled your arms forward so you’d hopefully look up at him. “Do you want to talk about it?” He was a little too strong to pull your hands back – damn that super strength – so you hung your head even more. He put a hand on each side of your head and tilted it up, revealing your tense expression and your teeth biting your lower lip.

“Not really,” you force out.

“Fair,” he chuckled, letting go of you. You almost immediately let your head fall back in your hands. “If you do, you know where to find me. If I can give you any vague advice, it’s not to miss out if you are interested - and you don’t have to be! But…if you are…just know that it definitely isn’t unrequited.” He grinned mischievously as you hesitantly lifted your gaze up to meet his.

“You really think so?”

“I all but know so.” He smiled again, this time less in a teasing manner and more in a heart-warming way. “Eat up,” he said, pointing to your food as he turned and left the room to leave you alone with your swirling thoughts.

You ate slowly, simultaneously trying to chew through everything that had happened with Peter since you arrived in New York. First Peter would barely acknowledge you, then you stood up to a bully for him, then you worked together at his house, then you fought and punched him (in training, but still), then worked on his new suit, and now you were going to a gala? Together?

You were so transfixed in trying to piece through what you were thinking that you ate everything on your plate without noticing. _Steve really is a good cook_ , you realized, feeling satisfied with the meal despite feeling completely distracted at the same time.

Taking one more second to compose yourself, you walked over and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window, taking in the grounds of the compound. So many things you never could’ve imagined if you tried had happened in the last seven days that you weren’t even sure how you felt about any of it. Between adoption by the famous Tony Stark and Pepper Potts to whatever your thoughts were about Peter, you hadn’t processed any of what happened.

What were your thoughts on Peter? For starters, he was really sweet when you first met him at the compound. Then he turned cold and distant the first week but explained that it was because he thought you were taking his place. You weren’t even sure what that meant – what place? – but it was still off-putting. After you worked together on the project, though, things were…different. You joked with him, worked with him, and trained with him, getting along better than you had with anyone. But, then again, you had hardly been around kids your own age. Maybe his kind smiles and those times he hugged you…maybe those were normal for kids your age.

“Miss, I don’t mean to interrupt, but please remember to go to Mr. Stark’s lab as soon as you’re done with your meal.” JARVIS said, ripping you from your trance. He had to have known you were done eating and decided to be polite.

“No need to patronize me, JARVIS!” You teased.

“Yes, of course. In that case, Mr. Stark is waiting for you and I suggest you hastily make your way to his lab.”

Acknowledging his blunt honesty, you hopped out of your seat and rinsed your dishes before scampering downstairs to the lab. Tony sat right inside the door this time, spinning cheerily in a desk chair while 80’s rock blasted from every which way.

“Ah, you made it! I was worried Steve’s cooking wasn’t agreeing with you. I’ve been there,” he joked, stopping his chair once he faced you. “Come with me.”

He led you back to the same room where you saw Peter’s suit for the first time just yesterday. This time, however, you approached the suit he told you was yours. The deep purple reflected light as did the silver accents, while the white edges were more of a matte. _It’s a weird combo_ , you noted, _but somehow Tony made it work_. For lack of a better word, it looked _awesome._

For a moment the two of you stood side-by-side in silence, looking over every detail and every edge. Tony tilted his head to the right and squinted, admiring his work before straightening up and looking down at you.

“Wanna try it on?”

“I—try—suit— _now?”_

“Yes, cavegirl, you try suit now?”

Goosebumps traveled down from your head to your toes and your eyes doubled in size. You opened your mouth to respond, but your jaw only opened further as the words failed to come out. Tony stared back at you and raised his eyebrows. All you could do was slowly turn and look at the suit again.

“Can you…you know, speak?”

It took all your strength to turn back and look at him. Jaw still on the floor, you nodded slowly.

“JARVIS, bring Y/N’s suit out into the lab,” Tony spoke, spinning on his heels and walking out to the workspace. You stood frozen in place, however, and the suit nearly crashed into you before you shook your head and trotted up behind him. Regaining your ability to move, your excitement transitioned from pure shock to a fiery vigor coursing through your veins. You skipped up next to him, now bouncing sideways and clapping your hands giddily.

“Oh, so now you’re the energizer bunny?” he said, smiling but not turning to look at you by his side.

“No! I’m going to be Iron Man!” you paused, still skipping until the two of you reached the center of the lab, but in thought. “Or would I be Iron Woman? Iron Girl? I don’t know how this stuff works.”

“Let’s put the name on hold for now and just focus on basic controls for a minute.” He plopped down in a desk chair just to the side of the space where you tried new suit features with Peter earlier that weekend. He started furiously typing on a computer next to him while a hologram of the suit lit up on his right.

“But…wasn’t it you who famously said that sometimes you have to run before you can walk?” you asked, a smirk dancing across your lips.

Tony whipped around in the chair to face you. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing,” you giggled. “I was just saying how thankful I am that you built me a suit!”

“That’s better,” he smiled when you looked away. “Walk over to the middle of the floor and stand with your arms out sideways so we can get everything fitted right this time.”

You followed his directions and stepped onto a little plus sign marked in the middle of the floor. Tony continued typing furiously on his computer.

“JARVIS, let’s get her suited up!” 

You lost your balance suddenly as the floor started climbing up. You threw your arms out to balance yourself and spread your feet wider.

“Oh, yeah,” Tony snickered, “the floor is going to lift like a pedestal for a second.”

“No shit, Sherlock!” You froze as the words slipped out of your mouth, unsure if there would be consequences.

“Um, language?” he teased, failing to keep a smile from curling up on the ends of his lips. “Arms out, legs a little apart!” 

The next few seconds whirred by. Both in the sense that time sped past and in the sense that different arms lifted out of the floor to assemble the suit on your body. The boots came up first and you stepped into them, per Tony’s instructions. The leg pieces were fitted up from there – first the heel, then the shin, then the calf clamping on behind you. Each thing locked into place seamlessly; it fit every part of you just right. The knee pieces were moved into place next and piece after piece followed with exact precision. Though your feet were still anchored to the ground and movement was limited, it already felt like you weren’t wearing any suit at all. It felt like nothing more than an extension of yourself, similar to the way a painter is so united with their brush that it is nothing but an extension of their hand.

Handles appeared at shoulder level on each side and, per Tony’s instruction, you reached out and grasped one in each hand. The arm pieces fitted on, then moving down to the hands and to each individual finger. The dexterity you felt in each finger as you clenched and relaxed your hands into fists blew your mind – it truly felt even more natural than it would’ve had you been wearing something as thin as gloves.

Finally, everything except the face plate had been put into place. You still stood frozen in place while Tony walked over, eyeing how it now fit and making sure it was up to his high standards. With a wave of his hand, the face plate slid down and covered your face, screens illuminating the moment it clicked shut.

“Hello, Miss Y/N, welcome to your new suit,” he stated. “I hope it meets your expectations.”

“ _Meets_ my expectations? This is _insane!_ ” You flailed your arms around with excitement, shocked by the ease with which these extra layers of metal you were wearing moved with you. Unbeknownst to you, Tony had stepped behind you to inspect the suit, and you quite nearly whacked him. You were too entranced by JARVIS’ tutorial of the suit’s AI modified system to keep track of Tony’s movement around you.

“Suit looks good, JARVIS, can you read vitals and check on all other systems?” Tony said.

“All systems online and functioning, sir,” JARVIS replied. All you could do was stare at Tony with more excitement in your eyes than ever before, completely forgetting the fact that he couldn’t see you.

“Shall we?” Tony asked, gesturing toward a few targets on the wall behind you. You turned around, moving your feet for the first time, and were surprised to find the lack of resistance in movement. Somehow, it was as effortless as walking without a giant suit of metal armor.

“The beam comes out of your palm - same as mine. All you have to do is point and blink twice to shoot.” He showed you with his own hand without any armor. “There’s quite a recoil, though, so Dum-E is going to hold you up.”Dum-E pressed a large panel up behind your back, supporting your shoulder in case the strength of the blast was more than you were prepared for. Granted, you were a civilian until about five minutes beforehand, so any sort of blast seemed relatively significant to you.

You looked down at your hand, amazed again by the circumstances that brought you to where you were standing. Somehow, not even a week after leaving the only place you had ever known, you were about to shoot targets with an Iron Man suit. _Your_ Iron Man suit. _Name TBD_ , you joked to yourself.

Lifting your arm parallel to the ground, you pointed your hand at the wall in front of you. The charging sound commenced almost immediately and a second later the beam shot out, pressing you against Dum-E’s support at your back. The beam only persisted a second, but that was enough to hit the target straight in the center. _Bullseye_.

“Heyyy!” Tony’s hands shot up in the air as he exclaimed, “first try, too! Not going to lie to you, that was a million times better than my first shot. I nearly burned down my lab.” Though it seemed like a severe near-emergency to you, he chuckled at the thought. “Wouldn’t be the first time I destroyed a lab.”

He instructed you to try your other, non-dominant hand next, and you just barely missed a perfect shot. Somehow, you had great aim. _Clint will appreciate that_ , you thought. You tested out the beams a few more times with multiple and moving targets, aim varying but always hitting the target with ease.

“Let’s get you up in the air.” It was a good thing Tony’s tech was near-perfect as your confidence was definitely not. “JARVIS, set her thrusters to 2.5% and wait for her count.”

“Me?” You pointed at your chest where the arc reactor sat. “My count?”

“Yes, you can count, can’t you?” You rolled your eyes, again forgetting he couldn’t see your face.

“3…2…1…go?” Engines at the soles of your feet whirred to life, gently easing you off the ground. Your hands once again shot out sideways to balance, and Dum-E repeatedly lent you a hand to hold when you nearly tipped over once. You hovered at around five feet off the ground before Tony told JARVIS to stabilize you so you could work on balance without the Dum-E’s help.

The hand blasters helped you dramatically, but with enough time and practice going side-to-side you were becoming increasingly stable with your feet alone. You told JARVIS to decrease power and settled yourself down back onto the ground, the face plate immediately sliding back and exposing your ear-to-ear grin to a proud Tony Stark. 

“Like I said, way better than my first time in a suit!” He strolled over to you for a high-five, though he immediately flinched back in pain as you had no sense of the strength of the metal suit yet and had no clue how to regulate the used in normal actions as simple as a handshake or high-five.

“I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!”

“I’m fine, just got slapped by a giant metal robot is all, totally fine.” He shook out his hand as he spoke and his pain subsided rather quickly. “Why don’t we get the suit off you so I can high-five you a normal person?”

He led you over to the floor where you originally put the suit on. Immediately Dum-E’s arms began to pull the suit off piece by piece. Once again, it didn’t feel any different between having the suit on versus off, which truly surprised you given the size and mass of the suits. Physics aside, Tony pulled out a chair for you over where he was working and you sat down while watching Dum-E package the suit back up and slide it into the – for lack of a better term – iron locker room.

“So. I have two more things to talk to you about. First, let’s go over some other programs and functions in the suit.” He walked you through a few different systems, from the full flight controls to the on-the-go suit-up procedure. He showed you the heads-up display features and explained each in depth, capturing your full attention throughout. You couldn’t have thought about anything else even if you tried: this was the coolest thing you’d ever learned. 

“Now the other thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Tony reminded you. You couldn’t think of what it could possibly be; it seemed to you like he was extremely thorough with all the suit’s features. “The gala. And more importantly, the boy.”

With the change in the subject, you now wished you had the suit and mask back on so you could hide your warming cheeks and darting eyes.

“Listen, listen. I’m no prude. Trust me. But what I will say is that he’s a good kid. He’s trustworthy, smart, and responsible. I trust you guys to be adults and have fun. Ok?” You nodded along with him, feeling quite let off the hook as the conversation could’ve taken a much different direction. That feeling faded all too quickly, however. “I’m always here to help with whatever it is you have going on. Unless it gets icky. I may not be your actual dad but please be safe and—actually, just don’t. You’re too young. Got it? I’ll take both of your suits. Yours and his. No funny business. Ok?”

“No funny business; got it. But, in all seriousness, thank you. I…I haven’t really been around kids my age.”

“I know. So, this is just a little reminder I’m here to help. Don’t forget it. Now, be like a normal teenager on their Sunday afternoon and go relax!”

You grinned and leapt out of your seat to head back upstairs. As you reached the glass doors to leave the lab, however, you spun around and ran back to Tony, who still sat in his desk chair working on the many screens in front of him. You wrapped your arms around him from behind the chair and squeezed tight, channeling all your excitement over the suit into this hug.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank—” you rattled, words blurring together.

Though shocked for the first half-second, he spun around and hugged you back. “You’re welcome, kiddo.” Little did you know that he was as excited as you were about you having so much fun with the suit.

* * *

The next week whipped by. You attended each of your classes as always, sat with your friends both in class and at lunch, and came home to train and to study. From Happy honking at other horrible drivers to Flash being an idiot to Steve making you pancakes with stars shaped just like his shield, life fell into a new routine. But this was a routine you loved every single second of.

On Wednesday, you sat with Ned, MJ, and Peter at lunch and discussed potential movie marathon plans for the weekend.

“What about starting at three on Saturday and going as late as we can?” Ned proposed. MJ nodded but her gaze never left the initial sketch of a drawing in her notebook.

“We, uh, I—I’m busy.” Peter leaned in, voice dropping just below a whisper as he explained himself to his friends. “Tony’s hosting a gala and I’m going as a Stark Intern,” he explained, hesitant yet proud.

“Woah! Will all the other Avengers be there? Y/N, do you get to go? Not as an Avenger, of course,” Ned rolled on, unaware of her possible spot on the team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. “Do you get a plus-one? Can you each bring one of us?”

“I—uh—”

“We can’t—Tony—”

You and Peter stuttered at the same time, unsure of how to explain Tony’s tricks to your friends. Peter’s gaze met yours and you both made faces to each other trying to communicate while your friends stared at you until Peter finally spoke up, eyes not leaving yours until he finished speaking.

“We would…but…Tony said he doesn’t want too many kids there so he’s having us go together,” he explained.

“Together?” Ned had to pick up on that one word above everything else. “You mean like… _together_ together?”

“Finally,” MJ muttered, hiding a grin as she got up from the table to head to class. Peter and you both immediately looked to Ned for some sort of clarification.

“Ned, what does MJ mean, ‘finally?’” you prompted. Ned frantically started packing up and fought a tight-lipped smile as he stood.

“Uhh, nothing, I mean—I have no idea. Who knows what MJ means ever! Ha!” Before he could ramble any more, he turned and bolted out of the cafeteria leaving you and Peter to exchange bewildered glances. Maybe you had an idea what she meant, but neither of you were willing to say anything about it.

Throughout the rest of your classes that week, you frequently found Ned and MJ huddled and giggling. Tony teased you enough about Peter by that point that you had a feeling they were going through the same thing. The incidents were different, however, in that with Tony, you were always alone for the teasing, Peter having just left or something. With Ned and MJ, both of you were there. _Together_. Peter’s face flushed as yours most certainly heated every time they would point between the two of you and laugh, unashamedly gossiping about you. Peter would roll his eyes but a soft smile never left his lips as the two of you tried to dismiss your friends’ teasing.

The teasing got to the point where, by Friday, you’d be sitting in class attending to whatever your teacher was lecturing about. You’d hear a little chuckle behind you, or a whisper of your name, and turn around to see them laughing. You’d try to catch Peter’s eyes to dismiss it, hopefully ridding yourself of embarrassment, but he’d always be staring back at you already. His light smirk would linger for just a second before he’d shake his head as if trying to shake water out of wet hair and return his focus to the teacher.

That Friday night, with less than 24 hours until the gala, Pepper knocked on your door as you were getting into bed. She was carrying a long, gray plastic bag with a hangar at the top, the hook resting on her hand and the tail of the bag just touching the floor.

“Your dress finally arrived! I didn’t know if you’d want to try it on before going to bed, maybe?” She asked as you pulled the covers back and hopped out of bed. You nodded as you approached and couldn’t help but feel a little silly, standing there in pajama shorts covered in cartoon iron man helmets – Tony had lots of merch stocked up – and a huge stark industries t-shirt with your hair all over the place, still wet from your shower.

She slipped it out of the bag and pulled the hanger off so you could go slip it on. It was a little tricky – you had never worn anything like this – but eventually stepped back out of your bathroom with it on.

“Wow,” Pepper said definitively as she took it all in. A soft smile graced her face as she finally met your expectant and hopeful stare back at her. She grabbed your hand and steered you over to a floor-length mirror hung on the closet door so you could take a peek for yourself.

Wow was right. You had honestly forgotten about it since you and Pepper ordered it. You remembered that day, sitting on the computer searching with her just as you had when you first came to the compound and got to order some clothes for school. She had some ideas for you initially, all of which were a little…outside your comfort zone, to say the least. She had talked to Tony about it, of course, and he said he’d just be happy as long as people weren’t ogling over you the whole time. Not that her picks were scandalous or anything even close. Just…a little flashier than you were ready for. You were looking for things that were nearly plain and, for lack of a better word, basic. But Pepper and even Tony had other ideas in mind: they wanted you to not only look like a princess, but to feel like one, too. Eventually, you compromised, her finding something just at the edge of your comfort zone and you liking it enough to overcome the little bit of discomfort you felt about it. Besides, no one would be paying attention to you at the gala. You were a nobody and would be there alone. At least, that’s what you thought at the time.

Mind snapping back to your reflection in the mirror, you stared down at the navy fabric. The bodice was fitted with lots of texture – an illusion lace material - and was like a tank top with a deep-v. From the waist down, the fabric loosely cascaded down and over the hips. It didn’t flare out and instead hung down, but it had layers that would flutter and drift with the slightest movement. The [dress](https://img.promgirl.com/_img/PGPRODUCTS/1603679/500/navy-dress-FA-8000-b.jpg) was beautiful.

“What do you think?” Pepper asked you, stepping up behind your figure in the mirror and setting her hands on your shoulders. Her reflection lovingly smiled down at you.

“I…I love it,” you whispered, almost completely at a loss for words. As your eyes drifted up to hers, you crossed your face, seeing the mess it was in comparison to the pictures you’d always see. _Nothing like a little self-consciousness right before a big event_ , you thought,  _right?_ The dress was great, sure, but thoughts of questioning how you were quickly taking over.

“You look beautiful,” Pepper said as she grabbed the hanger and bag again, getting a look from all angles. “It’s stunning.”

You stood in silence another minute while she positioned your hair a few different ways to test them out. When you agreed on simple, long, rolling curls, she suggested you put your pajamas back on so as to not get the dress too dirty and to get some sleep. Pepper was ever the mom and fashionista. 

She hung the dress up in your closet for the next day and gave you a kiss on your forehead before slipping out to let you sleep. She closed your door and leaned against it, having noted your expression falter after a minute or two in the dress and concerned she did something wrong. Pepper truly believed you looked striking and couldn’t wait for everyone (especially Peter and Tony, for very different reasons) to see you the following evening.

Inside your room, you slumped back down in bed and faced your nightstand to grab your phone. The lights were off so the blue light from your phone blinded you as you opened your text messages. The only new message was from just a few minutes ago from none other than Peter Parker.

**Peter:** I’m excited about tomorrow but fair warning: May wants lots of pictures!

The message brought a smile to your face and your eyes gently drifted closed; deep down you knew you were excited to take pictures with Peter. But then the self-consciousness drifted back. You had never dressed up like this before, never been to a formal event, never had a date (sure this wasn’t a “date” but still), and never done anything you’d be doing the next day. For whatever reason, you felt far more anxiety about this than you did coming to New York in the first place. Doubt took over as you typed out your reply.

**You:** Me too, and we can get lots of pictures of you lol

You set your phone down thinking Peter would’ve already been asleep, but he replied almost instantaneously. Even after his message arrived, the three dots stayed on the screen.

**Peter:** I mean pictures with you silly

**You:** Oh duh I’m stupid. We can do that for sure

**Peter:** Omg you’re not stupid, don’t argue with me on this.

**Peter:** We don’t have to get pics if you don’t want to?

**You:** Lol we’ll have to agree to disagree, I guess. No I’d love to get pics sorry

You felt yourself being distant and, though you really, really didn’t want to bother him or be vulnerable, for some reason you felt comfortable telling Peter about your sudden insecurity.

**You:** Sorry I’m being weird; I don’t really know how these gala things work so I’m a little nervous

The dots stayed on the screen a little longer this time before a message came in, only making your stomach knot further.

**Peter:** That’s ok! I haven’t been to one either. What I do know is that we’ve proven we work well together so I think we’ll be able to figure it out. We can do whatever we’re comfortable with. No stress :)

A slight sigh escaped your lips as you read his text. Thank goodness for Peter. Your nerves certainly weren’t completely eased but his words definitely took some of the strain away.

**Peter:** Plus, free food!

**You:** Hahaha true! Thank you for understanding <3

**You:** But if I’m ruining your fun in any way you have to promise to tell me! 

**Peter:** Y/N!!! Quit! It’ll be the opposite. I’d way rather hang out with you than go to a gala with a bunch of adults I don’t know lol

On the other end of the conversation, Peter’s breath hitched as he sent that last message. The two of you joked and teased each other, obviously, but this was as forward as he remembered being. It was almost like texting gave him the same confidence as wearing the mask did.

**You:** Peter!!! You quit!! You’re too sweet. I’d rather hang out with you than strange adults, too. Can we promise to stick together then? So we don’t have to deal with stranger danger?

Now it was your turn for your breath to hitch and Peter’s turn to sigh with content as he got your message. A whole night with you? Sounded to him like a pretty great time, even if there were strangers everywhere.

**Peter:** Yes, please. I pinkie promise! I have to go to bed (unlike you I desperately need my beauty sleep) so I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight!!!

Peter’s heart pounded in his chest – had he ever complimented her like that? Or any girl like that, for that matter? It was true that she didn’t need it, no doubt about it, but telling her that was a bold move for Peter. Lucky for him, it made your heart flutter.

**You:** Oh trust me, I do. Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite :)

**Peter** : I mean, I am Spider-Man, so are you telling me not to bite? Anyway. Lol goodnight :)

He nearly chucked his phone across the room as he sent the last message and kicked his bedspread all over with excitement. As much as he needed that beauty sleep, he was far too amped up now to even try.


	8. Dinner with the Avengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time for Tony’s gala. Enter: teasing, Mario Kart, Star Wars, and an ultimatum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I’m high-key excited about where this is going. As always, I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!! Any comments are appreciated :)

Homework: done. Strength training: done. Combat training: done. Shower: done. Lunch: done (and yummy, you might add).

Another Saturday morning in the books, you plopped yourself down on the couch in the common room waiting for Pepper to come get you. She told you she would do your hair and makeup for the gala so that all you had to do was get dressed when it was time. While you were excited to get totally dressed up, she was definitely more excited than you were. Wouldn’t it be more fun to stay in pajamas and hang out with friends?

Your phone dinged right as you set your feet on the coffee table. It was a text from MJ asking about your “plans” for the night. Keeping up with the spirit of the previous week, she kept digging for details about you and Peter ever since she and Ned heard you were going to the gala _together_. You explained multiple times that it was just Tony being Tony, but they wouldn’t hear it.

 **MJ:** soooooo what’s the plan

 **You:** Well, I think Tony said the dinner officially starts at 7 but doors open at 6 so we’re going then!

 **MJ:** no no. what’s the PLAN plan

 **MJ:** you know what I mean ;)

Sure, you knew what she meant. And sure, part of you wished you had a plan. But you didn’t, because you weren’t going to do anything. You barely knew him, anyway. The only reason he was going with you was because Tony was making him. Nothing else.

 **You:** Lol MJ, I’ve told you a thousand times. No “plan”

 **MJ:** suit yourself. but when your eyes meet across the dance floor and you fall in love, remember that I told you so

 **You:** Fine. I don’t even think there is a dance floor. But if somehow our lives become a fairy tale then I’ll thank you.

 **MJ:** you’re welcome.

“Y/N? You ready?” Pepper’s heels clicked on the floor as she walked up to you. With a smile and nod you stood up and followed her, wondering all the while how she spent all day in heels without her feet hurting. _And now she had to wear heels to a gala, too? Insane._

Pepper led you to the bedroom she shared with Tony and then into her bathroom, which was completely prepped and ready for you. There were hair tools laid out all across the left side of the counter and makeup all over the right side.

“It’s not always a mess – I promise,” Pepper reassured you, though you didn’t doubt it. “I just have everything laid out so you can see your options.”

“Oh, I don’t…I don’t really…know? I have no idea what would look good on me or with the dress or for this occasion or anything. But I do trust your judgement,” you sputtered. It was true – you had seen pictures and things from previous events like the gala tonight but coming up with looks like that was completely foreign to you.

Pepper stepped back and squinted at your hair and face. She had a pretty good idea of you by now, both in terms of personality and in terms of what you were comfortable with. She wouldn’t go crazy, obviously, but devised a classy yet youthful – had to stick with the princess vibes – look for you.

“I do have an idea, yes.” She ushered you over to a chair and grabbed something you didn’t recognize from the makeup side of the counter. “I think you’ll like it, but before I start, are you sure?”

“Am I sure if I trust the extraordinarily stylish Pepper Potts to dress me for an event?” You giggled, bringing a smile to her face as well. “Yes, of course I do! Make me pretty, pretty please.”

She stepped in front of you and started applying product to your face. “You’re already pretty,” she whispered, cupping your cheek as you grinned at her until she grabbed the next product.

* * *

Wearing makeup was…weird. It made your face feel hot and it was so strange seeing black around the edge of your eyelids from the mascara on your eyelashes. You stopped noticing it after a few minutes, but it was a strange adjustment. Stranger still was having your hair curled. That curling iron was _hot._ But it was also an odd sensation to look down and see your hair shorter than normal because the curls eliminated some of the length.

Pepper rolled up, held, and let go one last curl, then sprayed your head with a little bit of hairspray to make sure it would hold. Finally, she handed you your dress and told you to go put it on while she got herself ready. You tiptoed back to your room down the hall, not wanting to attract the attention of any other Avengers in their rooms getting ready. Though Pepper said you were pretty – both naturally and with the hair and makeup she did for you – it felt strange looking as you did. Having those who saw you dripping sweat on a daily basis see you look so different was a bit of an uncomfortable thought.

Luckily, you made it back to your room unseen and pulled the dress out from your closet and off the hanger. It zipped on easily, just as it had the previous night, but that didn’t mean it was comfortable. _Oh, how I miss my t-shirt and shorts_ , you thought, the idea only reinforced as you slipped on the heels from a box in your closet. You attached the clasp of the second shoe and stood up just as a knock sounded on the door and Pepper’s voice on the other side asked if she could come in.

“Yes, please – I think I’m ready.”

You smoothed the front of your dress as she cracked the door and slid into the room with you. Her jaw simultaneously dropped as a smile formed on her face; she was equally stunned and proud of how grown up you seemed.

“You look amazing, sweetheart,” she said, closing the distance between you to give you a hug. Though you were still new to the compound, Tony calling you “kiddo,” and Pepper calling you “sweetheart,” felt extremely comfortable. On top of that, it made your heart swell.

“Thanks to you, and – might I add – so do you!” You spoke softly into her ear as she still held you, now laughing over your shoulder. She stepped back, her hands resting on your shoulders as she looked you in the eyes. “Thank you. But have you actually seen yourself?”

Shaking your head, she grabbed your hand and pulled you to the floor-length mirror you used to look at yourself in the dress just one night earlier. But this time, the rest of the picture was complete, and the shock in your eyes showed it. You looked like yourself – she hadn’t done anything too dramatic – but still so different.

“Stunning, huh?” Pepper teased. She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, leaning back in through the cracked door to say one last thing. “Whenever you’re ready, come to the common room and we’ll all head down to the gala as a group, ok?” With that, she left you alone.

There wasn’t much else for you to do besides mentally panic. You looked totally different. _Is it stunning? Is it weird?_ You didn’t know. _What will Peter think?_ You forgot about Peter. _Did he like your usual look? Would he hate this new look? Would he like this one better?_ Who knew? Before you could delve too much further into the whirlpool of questions, you walked out of your room and to the common room, where only Pepper and Tony stood so far.

“Look at my little girl! All grown up,” Tony joked, giving you a hug. Almost identical to Pepper, as he pulled away, he rested his hands on your arms. “But really, you look beautiful, kiddo. Underoos isn’t going to know what hit him.”

_Underoos?_

“You called?” Peter piped up, now slowly approaching from the top of the stairs behind you with a quick wave. Tony’s hands fell from arms and you turned to face Peter, who immediately slowed as if his walking was stuttering instead of his voice. He instantly reddened, trying – and failing – to look at the floor (or anywhere else, really).

“Hi, Peter,” you breathed. He was more visibly nervous than you but that didn’t mean you weren’t nervous at all. He looked good, too, and that didn’t help your case. He now stood a few feet in front of you, hands fidgeting and barely reaching out from the sleeves of his [dark navy suit](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DiJ1pPWUEAAXzU2.jpg) that perfectly matched your dress. He wore a crisp, light blue button-down shirt underneath and his tie was striped with different shades of navy. His dress shoes were about as shiny as a pair of dress shoes could be – from what you knew about his aunt, you guessed she probably wouldn’t have let him leave the house unless they were perfect. 

“Hi, Y/N…you…you look— _beautiful,”_ he said, trying to breathe.

“Aw, young love. Well, shall we go to the party?” Tony held out his arm for Pepper, who gladly took it and followed him down the hallway toward the end of the compound where the gala was being hosted. “Come along, kids, we are the ones hosting this event and should probably be there on time!”

Pepper grinned and lightly punched him, wanting to give you and Peter space. When you turned back to Peter, he was cautiously holding his arm out to you.

“Shall we?” He asked with an edgy giggle, feeling silly but going along with Tony’s antics. You took his arm just as Pepper had Tony’s and the two of you sped along to catch up to the adults.

“You look really good, too, you know,” you whispered, leaning slightly toward Peter as you walked but keeping your eyes forward. When he looked at you, however, you could feel it. You could feel his eyes and had to look back at him and the cheesy smile plastered across his face.

That is, until you tripped on your dress and nearly took a tumble.

 _Curse this long dress and tall shoes and…ugh_ , you thought as Peter’s arm that was leading you kept you from hitting the ground face first. Luckily neither Pepper nor Tony heard and they both kept walking, but Peter stopped and grabbed your other hand to get you back up and on your feet.

“Y/N! You ok?” he murmured as he helped you get oriented again. You took a deep breath, closing your eyes for half a second to try and calm your embarrassment. But, if you really thought about it, you weren’t embarrassed. Before you could push the impulse back down, you snorted with laughter opening your eyes to see Peter’s worried face fading into giggles to match your own. As soon as he knew everything was ok, he couldn’t help but laugh along with you as you got back to walking to the gala.

“I’m such a klutz,” you joked. “Pepper wears this stuff all the time and I can’t even walk for five seconds without nearly wiping out!”

“Honestly, I’m surprised it wasn’t me who fell first. A little thankful, I have to admit.” You rolled your eyes at him but still giggled thinking about it. “Trust me though, I will fall at some point. And my shoes are way easier to walk in than yours!”

“No way the famous _Spider-man_ is clumsy. No way.”

“You’d be surprised.”

The four of you reached a large set of doors guarded by none other than Happy Hogan. He gave you a quick smile and wave, gave Peter a wave – sans smile, to Peter’s dismay – and opened the door for Tony to make his entrance.

Thankfully, there weren’t very many people arriving yet. The main doors had only just opened and people were quickly filtering in. Once Happy safely got you all inside, he showed you to your table and excused himself to return to security duties.

“While everyone is arriving, let’s get a quick picture, and then we’ll stick together so I can introduce you all to some people. Then we can split up and par-tay! But not too hard, of course. Sound good?” 

You nodded at Tony and followed him, arm still linked with Peter’s, as he first walked over to the photo backdrop. The group took turns getting various pictures and, as requested, Peter got one with you. He put his arm around you and you put yours around him, surprised by how comfortable it felt. Of course, Tony had to jump in and up the ante, so he grabbed the hand you had on your hip and put it on Peter’s chest like in tacky prom pictures. You felt a little silly but relaxed with the fact that you could feel Peter’s heart pounding underneath your hand. You weren’t sure why that brought you comfort, but something about knowing he was also nervous calmed your own nerves. Unbeknownst to you, though his heart was pounding, Peter was on cloud nine.

Leaving the pictures, Tony led everyone away and walked up to a man in a sharp military suit. He then pulled you forward and away from Peter to introduce you to his good friend, Sir Colonel James Rhodes, who immediately corrected his friend with a sigh and told you to call him James or Rhodey or whatever you were comfortable with.

Behind you, Peter took a second to text Ned. Though he wasn’t sure how he felt about his friends gossiping about you and him _together_ at the gala, he promised he’d keep his friend up to date. Plus, he needed all the support he could get.

 **Peter:** Dude. I’m in way over my head

 **Ned:** What do you mean? Are there villains there? Are you in a super fight?

 **Peter:**   What? No. Remember when I said I was in trouble?

 **Ned:** Oh, yeah? Because you realized Y/N was perfect and you looooove her?

 **Peter:** NED! Ok. I admit, she’s incredible. But you have to chill. I need help, she looks amazing and I keep blabbering and Mr. Stark keeps making comments about young love?! What do I do?

 **Ned:** Woah. This is the big leagues. Have you talked to Y/N much?

 **Ned:** You gotta hold her hand, man. Girls love that stuff.

 **Peter:** Barely, we walked arm in arm for a bit? And she tripped and I caught her? And she keeps smiling and I don’t know if I can do this Ned

 **Peter:** Wait, how do you know what girls love?

 **Ned:** I get around, Pete. I have my ways.

Before Peter could type up a reply, Tony pulled him forward to say hi to Rhodey, who he had previously met. Tony quickly whisked them away to person after person, bragging about you to each and every one. You kept trying to sneak back behind Tony and Pepper to hang out with Peter. As much as you loved Tony boasting about you and saying how proud he is (you couldn’t get enough of it, to be honest), you also wanted to hang out with your friend.

Happy tapped on Tony’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, then quickly strutted off.

“Ah! Time for us to go sit down, and I believe I have a mini-speech to make,” he announced to your small group, directing you toward the table. As you sat down, a woman tapped on the microphone and asked everyone to take their seats. You sat with Peter on your left and Tony and Pepper adjacent to him. You were about to ask Pepper who else would be sitting at the table when someone answered for her.

“Excuse me, miss, is this seat taken?”

Steve stood just behind you, goofy grin on his face and hand on the back of the chair to your right. 

“Only by you!” you exclaimed, jumping up to give him a quick hug.

“You look great, kid, and not in the fighting way this time,” he whispered, looking over your shoulder at Peter seated behind you. “Spider-boy is a lucky man.” He leaned back and winked as he sat down, chuckling when you rolled your eyes with a smile.

Going around the circle, next to Steve sat Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, a woman you didn’t recognize (Steve later told you it was Clint’s wife, Laura), Thor, and Rhodey, who sat next to Pepper. Then there was, of course, Tony, Peter, and you. As the seats started to fill in, your eyes kept widening, as did Peter’s. Once everyone was seated, you turned and looked at Peter with your jaw nearly on the floor. Sure, you had seen all of these superheroes around the compound, but to sit and have a fancy dinner with them? That was new.

“ _Peter,”_ you hissed, trying to get his attention from the Avengers seated around him. He turned to you, eyes just as wide as yours and brimming with delight.

“This is crazy…we’re at a dinner with the _Avengers!”_ you whispered, unable to contain your own excitement.

“I know! And we’re kind of friends with them?” He couldn’t help but joke with you, clearly just as shocked by the arrangement. “What even—”

He was stopped by the lady at the front tapping on the microphone again and announcing the event. As Tony was introduced, the two of you couldn’t help but be bored – you were only teenagers, after all – and resorted to playing _I Spy_ under your breath until Tony got up to speak.

“Welcome, welcome, and thank you for being here,” he began. “Yes, I’m Tony Stark, you’re welcome.” He paused again – ever commanding of attention – while the crowd broke out in laughter. Everyone at your table, however, rolled their eyes at his classically cocky behavior.

“I think we all want to get right to it – there’s food! And a party to be had! So, without further ado, thank you again for sponsoring _Stark Industries_ and I hope that you enjoy this evening as much as I will!”

With a bow, he exited the stage and plopped back down in his seat between Peter and Pepper. Dinners were quickly served but Tony jumped up again.

“I would like to make a toast,” he declared to the table. Pepper shook her head and turned to Rhodey as he sighed. “ _Stark Industries_ has had a great year, sure, but so have the Avengers.” Everyone nodded along now, far more invested in this message. “We’ve celebrated that already – shout-out to shwarma – but I would also like to give a little shout-out to our little ones joining the team for stepping right into some big shoes. You’ve both impressed me each and every step along the way and I can’t wait to see what kind of trouble we’ll have to bail you out of down the line. But just remember, the Avengers have your back. And you clearly have each other’s backs. But you don’t know that yet. I digress. Cheers!”

Pepper lightly punched him again as everyone raised their glasses and toasted. You and Peter raised your water glasses – which would have embarrassed you enough – but now Tony had to tease you in front of everyone. If you were honest with yourself, you couldn’t say you hated it; anything that gave Peter a hint might help your case. But in the meantime, it was making you so incredibly nervous.

As everyone dug into their meals, Steve pointed out to you twice how Tony kept leaning down to Peter and telling him something. Both times, Peter would weakly smile, nod, and continue eating while his eyes darted your direction. Every time Steve teased you, it reinforced his words from the previous day. _“If you are interested - and you don’t have to be! But…if you are…just know that it definitely isn’t unrequited,”_ he told you. _Was he right?_ Peter did seem nervous. _But that very well could be because he’s surrounded by his idols,_ you reminded yourself.

“I have a bit of a bone to pick with some of you,” Clint professed, drawing the attention of everyone at the table. “Not exactly a bone to pick. More of a little friendly teasing. So, how is it that our hundred-year-old super soldier, decorated military colonel, and literal god of thunder don’t have girls by their sides, but our little spider-boy does? I mean, come on! And I mean no offense to you, Spidey, I’m impressed!” He slow clapped at Peter as those not being called out laughed with him. Peter blushed and nodded, eyes coming up to meet yours only briefly as you played along with their banter.

“It’s as much the ladies that should be rewarded,” Natasha reminded him with a smirk, looking straight at you. “As usual, kudos to you, kid.”

Steve patted you on the back as you sighed, realizing it was your turn to be embarrassed and teased by the table. These Avengers sure did like to take advantage of having kids around to poke fun at.

“How are you settling in? School going well?” Bruce asked you, far more serious than any of the others.

“It’s going well and I’m really loving it here,” you reflected. “I love training – Nat and Steve keep it very difficult for me,” they grinned at you, not letting you say that without reminding you how successful you had been so far. “And Peter has been really helpful at school—” you felt your gaze look over to him. He faced your conversation rather than the one on the other side of the table and seemed to hang on your every word. “I’ve been really thankful to have him,” you finally pulled your stare from Peter’s to look back at Bruce. “Plus, Tony let me try out a suit yesterday and it was one of the most amazing things ever!”

“You did?” Peter prodded your shoulder to get your attention back. “That’s amazing! It went well? You had fun?”

You couldn’t help but think back to the first week you met him and how he felt threatened by you joining the team. Whatever changed to make him this supportive friend now sitting by your side doing nothing but encouraging you…you couldn’t deny that it brought butterflies to your stomach. 

“It was incredible,” you explained, trying not to focus on Peter despite your mind being drawn to him. “It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before… _obviously,”_ you joked, making everyone listening laugh along with you. 

“Now, Y/N, I know a little bit from what Tony told us before you arrived, but remind me again about what you were doing before Tony found you?” Bruce asked.

For some reason, the question made you uncertain. You hadn’t thought about everyone back home and how they were probably all still doing the same thing and in the same routine as when you left just a few weeks ago. That easily could’ve been you if Tony had picked one of the other millions of kids around the country, let alone the world. You couldn’t put your finger on all the reasons, but the thought made you a bit uncomfortable. Thankful, but uncomfortable.

Peter’s spidey sense started going off quietly and, while he first looked around for trouble, he quickly realized it was you. He wasn’t in your head and didn’t know the exact cause but pieced together that something about Bruce’s question hit a sore subject. No one else seemed to pick up on it, however, and everyone patiently awaited your answer.

Peter could only explain what happened next as a result of the spidey sense amping up his adrenaline. His mind flashed back to Ned’s advice: _“you gotta hold her hand, man. Girls love that stuff.”_ As that piece of information crashed together with the sense that you were nervous, he covertly reached his hand out and held your two hands that you were fidgeting with in your lap.

As his warm and, slightly clammy hand (so were yours, though – you couldn’t blame him) wrapped around yours, your eyes followed his arm up his sleeve to see him looking at you with the same smile and encouraging gaze from earlier. Your doe eyes stared at his puppy-dog ones that somehow reassured you as he nodded. You didn’t know how he knew you were uncomfortable or really understand any of what just happened, but that didn’t mean you weren’t a little excited about it.  

Thankfully everything took place in a matter of seconds and you answered Bruce’s original question quickly enough for all the nerves and the hand-holding and other little things to go unnoticed by the adults. As you answered that first question and all those after it, Peter’s hand never left yours. He even gave the occasional squeeze when his spidey sense kicked up a little higher. He figured it meant whatever they asked was a topic you were more anxious talking about and wanted to be there for support. He could sense you relaxing into it and eventually holding his hand back as you spoke, giving him his own butterflies. Most of all, a voice in the back of his head was telling him he owed Ned. _Big time._

Many conversations and laughs later, the clock struck 9 and Tony announced it was time to get the real _party_ part of the night started. He repeated the announcement on stage into the microphone, receiving applause of course, and then returned to the table.

Tony turned to you and Peter as he sat back down. “The bar is opening up, so children, you are now excused.”

You both stared at him; you had no idea what he was trying to tell you.

“I figured you’d rather go upstairs and watch a movie or something than hang out with a bunch of drinking adults? Since you can’t drink and all? I mean, I’m a cool dad and I’d let you have a sip, but you’re not old enough for open bar, you know?” He couldn’t help but tease. “Peter, you’re welcome to stay the night or go home, whatever you want, just tell JARVIS so we make sure you get home safe if needed. You’re a superhero but you’re also a baby.”

You and Peter glanced at each other, slightly confused, and got up to leave. Everyone said goodnight and wished you sweet dreams while you stood. Steve gave you a fist-bump, whispering, “go get ‘em,” as you turned to go.

Happy, guarding the door through which you initially entered, let you back into the secure part of the compound. You walked down the same hall you tripped in a few hours ago with Peter still by your side, the two of you sharing a somehow comfortable silence as he walked with his hands in his pockets and eyes watching his shoes.

“Are…are you going to stay?” You asked, curious if you’d be by yourself and going to sleep soon or if you’d get to hang out a bit longer.

“I, uh…yeah? If you want me to?”

“Yeah, we could hang out for a little bit?” You laughed to yourself as you kept walking, finding it funny how you clearly wanted him to stay but spoke as if it was a question. “I’m going to have to change, though, because as you know I can barely walk in this.”

“I’m so relieved to hear you say that. I did _not_ want to wear all these layers any longer,” Peter confessed, loosening his tie and smiling as the tension started melting away.

“You know what?” You stopped in place; your head tilted to the side. Peter stopped just a step in front of you and turned back. You reached your hand out and placed it on his shoulder closest to you. Peter panicked in that moment; all the air left his lungs as he had no idea what you planned to do.

Sure enough, you kicked your foot up and slipped off one shoe after the other, relying on him for balance. Feet no planted on the floor, you sighed with relief. “Much better,” you exclaimed with a giggle, pulling your hand back and picking your dress up with the hand not holding your shoes to keep walking.

Peter let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and caught up with you, now laughing at how dramatic that was. The two of you split up when you reach your rooms, which, coincidentally, were right across the hall from each other - and changed out of your gala clothes and into pajamas. You pulled on a fuzzy _Stark Industries_ sweatshirt and your favorite, patterned Iron Man pajama shorts.

On the other side of the door, Peter had finished changing and was heading back to the common room. Like you, he opted for a sweatshirt and shorts, but instead pulled on Midtown gear. In the brief second he had alone, he pulled out his phone to at least 20 texts from Ned, all asking how it was going and if you and Peter were married yet. _Oh, Ned,_ he thought.

 **Peter:** Ned. Did you get my message saying chill? We just left the gala and are hanging out just the two of us upstairs

 **Peter:** Btw? Hand-holding? Money!!!

You walked into the common room before Ned could reply, but Peter felt his phone buzz once, twice, thrice – too many times to count. Peter sat down on the couch while you walked into the kitchen, offering snacks. When you brought the popcorn back, you sat down on the same couch as Peter but with a cushion in between you.

“What do you want to do? Game? Movie? Other?” Peter chastised himself. _Why would I throw out ‘other?’ That’s so weird!_

“I’m up for whatever,” you confided. “I’m not really sure what all our options are, but if we go the game route, you should know that I’m very, _very_ competitive.”

“I’d like to see it,” Peter teased, setting up some video game while you dug into the popcorn. With JARVIS’ help, he eventually got _Mario Kart_ up and running and showed you how to play.

He started you off easy, helping you pick your character and bike so you wouldn’t be totally at a loss. It only took you beating him once for him to switch gears and go from trying to be nice and flirty to trash-talking up a storm. But you’d be lying if you said you didn’t do the same.

“TAKE THAT, LOSER!” You yelled, jumping up on the couch as you threw a blue shell at his bike just a little bit up ahead. You could see the finish line on the last lap of Mushroom Gorge approaching and were not about to let him win.

“NOOOOOOO!” He screamed, his bike spinning out and slowly sputtering back up to speed as you whipped by him. Within seconds you crossed the finish line, jumping around the room as he finished the race in second.

“I win, you lose, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha,” you mocked as he grimaced and glared at you.

“I was being nice!”

“Excuses, excuses, excuses… _Avengers_ don’t make excuses,” you teased, rubbing salt in the wound.

“Fine,” he said coyly, a smirk growing on his face. “Rematch. Rainbow Road. Let’s go.”

You hopped back into your spot on the couch while he started up the next race, accepting his challenge without hesitation. Before you knew it, the countdown started and you floored it immediately.

You took turns in first and second, constantly getting power-ups and passing each other. None of the computer players were anywhere close from the moment the race started, but both of you knew they weren’t the competition. Near the end, Peter used the heavy weight of his character and pushed your light-weight character off the track, causing you to lose enough precious time that there was no way you’d catch him in the last quarter-lap. Sure enough, he crossed the finish line first and quickly seized the opportunity to gloat.

“I win, you lose, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha,” he sang in the same tune you had, mocking your enthusiasm from before.

Without skipping a beat, you whipped around to face him. “Best two-out-of-three!” Playful grins spreading on both your faces, he set up another race.

You took turns winning race after race, upping the stakes more and more until finally you nearly did every race in the game. He’d win one, you’d win two, he’d win two, you’d win one – it went on and on until finally you slumped back on the couch and closed your eyes. 

“Peter, I think we’re even,” you said, hoping he’d agree.

“Yeah, I think you’re right. Are you comfy there?” He kicked your foot a little, teasing you for completely spreading out like a starfish.

You didn’t flinch. “Yes, quite comfy, actually.”

He snagged a blanket from another chair and threw it at you, expecting you to jump up. But again, you didn’t flinch, and just laid peacefully with the blanket now draped over your whole body. He laughed again and stepped over to you, pulling only the top of the blanket by your head back and peaking under so he could see your face.

“WANNA WATCH A MOVIE?” You nearly shouted when his face appeared at the top of the blanket. He leapt back in shock and nearly fell over the coffee table but recovered his balance just in time. You pulled back the rest of the blanket, laughing so hard there was no sound coming out and you were nearly in tears.

“You scared me… _so badly_ …”

“Yeah, I know. So, what movie do you want to watch?” You continued laughing and readjusted yourself on the couch. It was only 10:30, which was late for you, but you figured there would be noise in the compound until midnight.

“Hmm. What’s your favorite movie?” Peter sat back down on the couch right next to you.

 “I haven’t really seen many movies; I don’t know if I have a favorite. Most of the ones I got to watch were animated kids’ movies,” you confided, slinking back into the couch as you spoke. You weren’t embarrassed about it, but everything had been going so well with Peter and you didn’t want that to change. The last thing you wanted to do was say the wrong thing.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Peter twisted himself on the couch to face you and froze. “Please tell me you’ve at least seen _Star Wars?”_ You shook your head, suddenly concerned he wouldn’t like you or something because of it.

“NO WAY. We have to watch it. Right now.” His eyes danced with excitement completely contrary to what you expected. “Maybe all of them. You have to see them. I’m going to watch every single one of them with you and we’re starting right now.”

“All of them? How many are there?” 

“Well, seven currently. Six original, a new one came out in 2015, and the one after that comes out this December, and the one after that comes out in 2019! Plus, there’s a spin-off movie that came out in 2016—”

“Hang on. That’s a lot of movies. It’s 10:30, Peter. What’s the first one?” 

“Episode IV.”

“Well that makes no sense,” you mocked as he grabbed your arm and shook you.

“TRUST ME, PLEASE Y/N!”

“Ok! Ok! Calm down, Peter, I’ll watch your war of the stars movie,” you teased, smirking at how exasperated he seemed with you calling the series you did in fact know the name of by the wrong name. “JARVIS, can you play _Star Wars: Episode IV_ , please?”

“Right away, Miss.” The TV screen switched off from _Mario Kart_ before showing the opening credits of the movie.

“Oh my gosh! This is important, you have to read this,” Peter exclaimed, sitting back down next to you. You just looked at him and smiled at the boy pointing at the screen, so passionate about this movie.

“Y/N, I told you, you have to read this!” He could feel your eyes on him and turned to look, his voice sounding nearly frustrated. You immediately burst out laughing. 

“What’s so funny?!”

“You, you goofball! You’re so excited!”

“Of course I am! I get to sit with you and see you enjoy my favorite movies for the first time!”

“Ok, that's pretty sweet,” you admitted.

“Thank you—”

“I guess I understand why you’re being a dork.”

“Hey—” he started, but you were grinning wildly and already rewinding the movie to go back to the start. He sighed, content now, and sat facing forward again right next to you while the opening credits rolled for real. He looked over at you again, staring at your eyes. And this time, you were reading. Every single word.

* * *

Back down at the gala, Tony felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He excused himself and stepped outside. Looking down at his phone again, he couldn’t figure out why the Secretary of State himself would be calling _him_ of all people, especially so late on a Saturday.

Happy let him through the main doors and he traced the path back to the common room as he answered. _Might as well check on the lovebirds_ , he thought as he hit accept on the call.

“Hello?”

“Tony Stark, good to hear your voice.”

“I wish I could say the same, Ross,” Tony sassed.

“I have some news for you and your gang, Stark, and I’m not sure you’re going to like it,” Thaddeus Ross explained. Tony reached the common room now and smiled seeing it illuminated by a movie he instantly recognized.

“Given the events that occurred in Sokovia, the United Nations has decided that powers such as your Avengers need to be kept in check. We’re giving you an ultimatum.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but we aren’t going to propose to you any time soon.” Tony stepped around the couch and, despite the tension he felt through the phone and the straightforward dislike he had for the man he was talking too, his heart warmed at seeing you and Peter on the couch. After the movie started, you had quickly dozed off, losing control of your head on Peter’s shoulder. Peter trying his best not to squirm and upset you, somehow got his phone out of his pocket and texted Ned. He didn’t want to move you, though, and ended up falling asleep himself and his head had dropped on top of yours.

Ross’ voice on the other end of the line snapped Tony back to reality. _I’ll tease them in the morning_ , he decided. “We have a proposal for _you_ , actually. It goes like this: either you sign some accords we’ve written up and agree to only be dispatched when the United Nations deems necessary,” he started while Tony grabbed the blanket on the floor that Peter had thrown at you earlier. “Or you become criminals.” Trying to avoid the crisis on the phone, Tony draped the blanket over you and Peter and leaned down to kiss your forehead. You shifted as he stepped back from you and he worried he woke you up, but instead you snuggled further into Peter’s side and brought a smile to Tony’s face.

“They aren’t going to like this,” Tony said into the phone.

“They don’t have a choice,” Ross replied. “I’ll be there with the documents tomorrow for your team to make a decision.”

With that, the call clicked off. Tony could sense there would be disagreements about what was about to take place with these so-called accords and hoped that none of it would impact either of you kids. Ignoring the problem he would have to confront tomorrow, he switched his phone to camera and took a quick picture of you and Peter, being sure to send it to all the Avengers (yourselves included) before cautiously heading back to end the party.


	9. Falling Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The proposal of the accords seems to rip the team apart, leaving you lonely in the sprawling compound. A quick flight brings everyone back together, but is it really the way everyone wanted?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to stick as close to canon as possible but obviously some things are different (aka I can’t follow a timeline to save my life) so bear with me lol. This closely follows Captain America: Civil War. Most of all...I hope you enjoy it!! As always, I appreciate every single comment and any feedback!

A muffled yell woke Peter with a start. He looked around the room, taking a second to process the confusion of not waking up in his bedroom like usual. This wasn’t his bedroom or even his apartment – he was still at the compound.

His left arm was slightly asleep, too, and upon looking down to see the cause of the tingly feeling, his heart stopped beating altogether as he saw you, still rested against his side and completely asleep. He froze – partly from trying not to wake you and partly in shock – but kinked his neck forward to take a peek at your face. Your eyes were gently pressed closed with the outside corners crinkling ever so slightly to match a soft smile on your lips. Peter looked straight ahead and inhaled deeply with the realization that the two of you slept all night like that. 

Another muffled yell behind the two of you finally woke you up as well. Your eyes softly twitched open and, for a moment, you felt like you were sweltering under the blanket draped on your legs and up over your body, tucked in between your left shoulder and neck. It was almost like you were leaning against a heater—

 _“Morning,”_ Peter whispered as you whipped your body up and around to face him. You shook your head and wiped your eyes as if it wasn’t quite real.

“Did I…did I fall asleep on you?” You asked, not really remembering how you ended up using him as your pillow.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to wake you up, so I figured I’d wait until the movie was over. Then I, uh…I also fell asleep and I guess someone put a blanket over us…I hope I, uh, didn’t violate your privacy or something,” Peter sputtered, blush creeping up his neck and promptly filling his cheeks.

You felt the heat in your face mimic his. “No, Peter, I would’ve done the same, and I actually slept better—”

A third loud sound from down the hall echoed into the common room. You and Peter both reacted and looked to the hallway before meeting eyes and scrambling up. Having lost your personal heater from your side, you picked the blanket up and tried to wrap it around your shoulders. It got a little stuck, however, until half the weight seemed to disappear, and the blanket came up around your neck.

“Sorry, I, uh, thought you might want help,” Peter confessed, stepping back and lacing his hands together behind his back.

“Thanks, Pete,” you smiled at him while he stared at the cool, concrete floor. “We should, uh, see what that sound was, probably?”

Peter nodded and followed you down the hall. The sounds of raised voices got progressively louder until you reached a conference room near the end of the hallway. Peeking in the glass window, nearly all the Avengers were gathered around the table with Tony sitting alone in the corner and a stranger facing away from you and gesturing to a screen beside him. Clint, Bruce, and Thor were missing, you noted, though you remembered Clint had simply gone home after the gala. Rhodey and two others sat in on the meeting, instead. You pieced together from what Tony had told you that the woman was Wanda Maximoff, who joined the team after the battle with Ultron, and Vision, who he explained was “essentially” JARVIS in human form.

Before you could jump out of the way, the unknown man pushed out of the room and moved toward the exit of the compound without acknowledging either you or Peter. You stuck your head into the room through the door he left open behind him. Peter followed in behind you, met with nothing but silence.

“Well, if it isn’t Romeo and Juliet. Thou hast awoken from thy slumber,” Tony said, his teasing words present but enthusiasm absent.

Steve rolled his eyes and stood up forcefully, the rolling chair beneath him flying backwards and slamming into the glass wall. He stormed out without a word, leaving an even more uncomfortable silence in his wake.

Tony’s head fell into his hands as the rest of the Avengers – clearly distraught – filtered out. You and Peter stood and watched as they each nodded to you and exited the room. Finally, the last ones in the room, you had to ask the obvious question.

“What just happened?”

Tony sighed deeply before looking up at the two of you. His eyes were red, not puffy as though he had been crying but drooping and bloodshot with stress and a lack of sleep. He stood up wordlessly and slid one of the thick packets across the table to you. It read “Sokovia Accords” across the front and, flipping it open, you caught a general idea of what it entailed.

Each Avenger had to either sign and be subject to the will of the United Nations or, alternatively, not sign and potentially become a criminal.

Clearly the team had mixed feelings about it.

“Peter, you should go home,” Tony said as he strode by you and out the door. “Happy will take you.”

Peter opened his mouth to say something, but Tony was long gone. You pulled the blanket tighter around your shoulders as the two of you stepped out of the room and Peter silently went to grab his things from his room. Plopping back down on the couch, you noticed an eerie stillness in the place that had become your home; what was a welcoming and bustling hub only days ago now felt empty and cold.

The sound of Peter’s duffle bag dropping to the concrete in the open hallway got your attention. “I’m…I’m going home,” he said, his thumb indicating over his shoulder toward the stairs.

You stood up and walked over to him, still clutching your blanket around you, and wrapped your arms around him. He stiffened initially, but when you rested your head on his chest, he relaxed into it and pulled you close. It dawned on him how you didn’t have an apartment and an aunt to escape to like he did, and he couldn’t help but worry that the divide in the compound and in your new family would leave you all alone. He held you just a little tighter before you both stepped back.

“Sorry, I, uh—” 

“It’s ok,” Peter assured. You stared down at the ground; your eyes were heavy with concern. Peter put his hand on your arm and your gaze came back up to meet his. “I…I had fun last night,” he admitted, taking a deep breath as a spark lit in your sad eyes and you nodded in agreement, “and if you need anything, I’m always here, ok?”

You nodded again, smile faltering this time as you bit your lip, breaking eye contact and finding your feet with your eyes again as he squeezed your arm and turned around to go. You stood, immobile, and watched as he walked to the top of the stairs. He turned back to you and flashed a sympathetic smile for just a second before disappearing down the stairs and leaving you by yourself in the huge compound.

* * *

 

Monday morning, you woke up with a heavy weight on your chest. You hadn’t seen a soul in the compound after Peter left the previous morning as even Pepper was out of town for a business trip. Hoping the Accords would be resolved shortly, you dressed for school as every other day; going through the motions as if you had your whole life. In the kitchen, however, the lack of sweet-smelling pancakes stopped you in your tracks. Furthermore, the lack of a super soldier standing over the stove concerned you. _Had Steve been that upset that he left the whole compound? Had the disagreement been that severe?_

“Hey, FRIDAY?” You addressed the new AI Tony installed.

“Yes, Y/N? It’s nice to finally speak to you,” the voice replied. 

“Where’s Steve?” Your voice cracked as you confronted your fear that your uncle-like figure might have left.

“Mr. Rogers is in London for a funeral. He didn’t plan a return trip.”

You shuddered at the potential implications but hustled to throw your own breakfast together. The quiet air was nearly disturbing, however, and you found yourself scrapping your breakfast after just a bite or two. 

Happy drove you to school, as always. When you got there, however, you were surprised to find Peter waiting outside, eyebrows arching up in the middle and eyes sympathetic, in front of a confused Ned and MJ. You walked up to the trio, your own face scrunching as you approached.

“What’s up?”

“Are you doing ok?” He replied softly, ignoring your question altogether. Behind him, Ned and MJ looked at each other, clearly confused by this new dynamic.

“Uh, yeah?” You answered, holding his gaze just a second longer than you probably needed to. Though you were somewhat covering it up on the outside, Peter evidently sensed your uneasiness. He did have a spidey-sense, after all. But you didn’t think it applied to things like this. “I gotta get to class,” you nodded your head toward the school’s front doors and the group started walking, but Peter’s expression never faded. Not that morning, not in classes you had together, and not at lunch. Not even after school, when he walked you out to Happy’s car. It went the same the next day, too.

Finally, you had to get some info. You hadn’t seen another soul at the compound since Sunday. Holding it together for most of the ride home from school, you stayed quiet. But as you rolled down the driveway again, compound still as ever, you had to ask.

“Happy, did everyone just _leave?”_

“Well, Rogers went to London Sunday right after the meeting, and then everyone else flew to Vienna for the signing of the Accords yesterday. But just a few minutes before I picked you up, I got an update,” he hesitated, unsure if he should share the classified information with you. He parked the car in the garage and sighed before turning around to face you. “I think you have a right to know. This afternoon, Steve, Sam, Steve’s childhood friend, and the king of Wakanda were arrested in Berlin after a bit of an incident. Tony and Nat and all them flew there to deal with the consequences. That’s everything I know, kiddo. I’m sorry.”

You stilled, breathing halting, before realizing you _had_ to get out of the car. You thanked him for the ride and info before closing the door and darting out of the garage. You trudged up to your room and crunched through some homework before going to bed without another interaction just as the day before. As it turned out, the rest of the week would follow suit.

Peter’s concern grew for you throughout the week as he saw your eyes grow tired and voice get increasingly scratchy with lack of use. You seemed quiet and withdrawn; the bubbly personality he enjoyed spending time with repressed. That Friday, he walked you out to Happy’s car again, and watched as you drove away before heading to his own home. He couldn’t bring himself to make rounds as Spider-man right away and felt some time to himself – or to check on you, as much as he hated to admit it – would help clear his mind. After the train ride, he opened his front door, calling out to see if May was home. He stopped in the living room, seeing a familiar figure sitting on the couch.

“Oh, Mr. Parker.”

“Um, what—what are you—what are you—what are you doing here?” Peter stammered. He obviously knew Tony, and May knew about the Stark Internship, but she didn’t know he knew the _actual_ Tony Stark.

“It’s about time we _met_. You’ve been getting my emails, right?” He asked, with a wink in each eye.

“Yeah, yeah, regarding the—”

“You didn’t even tell me about the grant,” May prodded.

“About the _grant_ ,” Peter repeated. He had no idea what Tony was up to but followed his lead.

“The September Foundation,” Tony pretended to remind Peter. “Remember when you applied?”

“Yeah?”

“I approved. So now we’re in business.” Tony’s eyes widened as he peered into Peter’s eyes in an attempt to silently communicate with him. 

“But you didn’t tell me anything, what’s up with that? You keeping secrets from me now?” May asked, stuck between her excitement and being upset with Peter.

“I just…know how much you love surprises so I thought I would let you know…” he stammered out again, clearly not as good at lying on the fly as Tony. He looked between the two adults. “Anyway, what did I apply for?”

“That’s what I’m here to hash out,” he said, turning to May. “Could I have five minutes with him?”

“Sure,” May said, gesturing in the direction of Peter’s room. Peter lead Tony and Tony shut the door behind them, clicking the lock on the door closed.

“Mr. Stark, I didn’t apply for a grant—”

“Ah-ah! Me first,” Tony spat out as Peter sat down on his bed. Tony walked over to him. “I’m gonna sit here, so you move the leg.”

Peter shifted in his seat and Tony sat down next to him, giving him a pat on the back. “You got a passport?”

“Ha, no, I don’t even have a driver’s license.”

“You ever been to Germany?” Peter shook his head. “Oh, you’ll _love_ it.”

“I can’t go to Germany,” Peter asserted, piecing together what he inferred Tony was implying.

“Why?”

“I got…homework—”

“Ugh, I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” Tony said, rolling his eyes and standing up to pace around the room.

“I’m serious! Y/N and I have a big test next week, we can’t just not go to school,” Peter exclaimed, voice hushed.

Tony stopped in his place and looked back at Peter. “You really like her, huh?”

“No, I just, uh, we both have the test, so…”

“Save it. I see right through you.” He reached for the door knob. “So, I guess I’ll go tell your unusually attractive aunt that you’re passing up on a Stark Internship trip because of your spidey duties—"

Peter shot a web, sticking Tony’s hand to the knob. “Don’t tell Aunt May.”

“Ok, Spider-Man. But this girl conversation? Not over,” he declared. He sighed at the immobility of his hand. “Now get me out of this.”

After Peter released him, Tony left Peter’s apartment and headed back to the compound. He strolled straight up to your door, knocking softly three times. You had fallen asleep on your desk, book spread open and papers everywhere. You jumped at the sound at your door just as Tony peeked into the room.

“Hey kid—oh,” his voice faltered as your tired body crashed into him, and he wrapped his arms back around you. He rubbed your back before you finally let go.

“You miss me?” Tony teased, grinning down at you.

“Sorry, that wasn’t very _‘Avenger’_ of me,” you confessed, kicking yourself.

“What do you think the Avengers are? Droids?” He pushed your shoulder a little as your face lit up ever so slightly, your smile sharply contrasting the other drooping features on your face. “You’re like a daughter to me. No—you _are_ a daughter to me. I would’ve run and hugged you if I knew you thought of me that way, you know.” He walked over and sat down on your bed, gesturing for you to come sit next to him. You followed, happy to sit on something more comfortable than a desk chair and plopped down beside him. His arm rested around your shoulders and you leaned in to him; you were so thankful for this little bit of human contact after being completely on your own all week. Succumbing to the weight of your head, you didn’t protest for a second as it drifted down to his shoulder.

“What’s happening to the team?” You asked, voice small and unintentionally cracking yet again. Without anyone at the compound to keep you grounded, your imagination ran wild all week and you feared the worst.

“I don’t know,” Tony admitted, shaking his head. “I never intended for it to be like this. But from my intel I think Steve is recruiting a few super soldiers – Clint stole Wanda away today, by the way – in case there’s a stand-off. But I just don’t know.”

The two of you sat in silence for a minute as you processed the information. One main question kept cropping up no matter what you tried to think about. “Are you going to be on the other side of that stand-off?”

Tony took a deep breath and you sat up to look at him. However droopy your face was, his matched it on top of bruises and dried blood spattered around. “I have to be,” he conceded, though it was obvious he didn’t like his own answer. “Which is part of why I’m here, actually.”

Your eyebrows furrowed as he turned to face you. You followed suit, scooting yourself back to sit with your legs crossed near the edge of your bed. “Listen,” he started, taking another breath as if having to convince himself to say whatever was on his mind. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I have to go to Germany and stop Steve from tearing the Avengers apart.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“And I can come? Help? _Do_ something?”

“Do someth— _hell_ no. The _last_ thing I want to do is put you in the line of fire. I just came to say goodbye for a few days. You’re staying put, no ifs, ands, or buts.” 

“But I—” you spluttered out, Tony raising his eyebrows at your “but.” You were unsure of what direction you wanted to take this. Whatever was going to happen, though, you couldn’t stay in place and alone another week. You just couldn’t. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing while I watch from afar as my new family falls apart.”

Your pleading caught Tony off guard; he once again found himself surprised by how passionate you already were about the team. “You brought me here partly because you wanted a daughter. But you also gave me training,” you reasoned. “You told me you thought I had the potential to be an Avenger. But did you ever ask yourself if _I wanted_ to be one?”

Tony’s jaw twitched, his mind running to the worst. Following the direction of your comment, he couldn’t help but worry that you didn’t want to be here at all and regretted coming to the compound; that you regretted letting him into your life.

“Because I do. I _do_ want to be an Avenger. I didn’t know that when I got here, but I do. I really, really, really do. Will you let me?”

“I can’t let you get hurt. That would be on me.”

You bit your lip. If you were honest with yourself, you weren’t sure you were ready to fight, anyway. “I’m not saying I’m ready to go full Avengers assassin on everyone,” you giggled, lighting up Tony’s face. “But isn’t there something I could do? Helen’s been teaching me a lot, and so have you…maybe I could be there for assistance somehow?”

“I don’t know…” you slumped as he spoke, showing off your biggest puppy eyes. He looked over at you, scoffing and rolling his eyes at your begging. “Why am I a softie for you?” He asked, poking your shoulder and teasing with a chuckle. “But you aren’t going to take no for an answer, are you?”

You shook your head aggressively, a smile spreading across your face.

“Figures. You’re stubborn like a Stark. It’s as if you really are my biological daughter,” he teased, grins now covering both your faces. He straightened up as an idea popped into his head. “How’s this – you can go and be there for medical assistance, just in case. No fighting. Just practicing what Bruce and Helen have been teaching you.”

“Yes!” You jumped up, excited to go along. “My first act will be to get your face cleaned up because you look like you got hit by a train.”

“How kind of you to say.”

“Wait – when do we leave? When is all this happening?”

“Mr. Stark, the quinjet will be ready for takeoff in five minutes,” FRIDAY’s voice echoed into the room.

Tony looked around the room and away from your wide stare. “Yeah. It’s, uh, it’s happening now.”

You threw a few things into a bag and followed him down to the hangar where you arrived on the compound just a few weeks earlier. The ramp to the quinjet was down and Happy stood at the base.

“Good evening sir, and—Y/N? I didn’t realize you were coming with us?” Happy glared at Tony.

“Yeah, yeah, she’s stubborn and I’m a softie, I get it, let’s just go,” Tony berated him as the two of you walked up the ramp and toward your seats.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” Peter, already seated and strapped into a seat, eyed you curiously yet fearfully, floored to see you board the plane.

“I’m coming for medical duty. Or something,” you replied, sitting across from him. Tony sat down in the seat next to you.

“But…what if…” Peter’s eyes darted back between your lightened eyes and Tony’s shrug. “What if you get hurt?”

“I’m on medical duty, Peter, unlike you…I should be asking _you_ what if _you_ get hurt?” Tony looked out the front of the plane as the two of you went back and forth, rolling his eyes at how blind you both could be.

* * *

 

The jet touching down on the runway in Berlin many hours later woke you with a start. You jerked your head up from Tony’s shoulder, looking at him and laughing to yourself about how unintentionally sleeping on people’s shoulders was becoming a habit for you. Like Peter, though, Tony enjoyed every second.

Happy drove the three of you to the hotel you’d be staying in before you were supposed to meet up with Steve the following day. After getting your bag up to your room, you spread out on the bed, jet lag keeping you up far past what you’d consider your bedtime. You were just getting some school papers out of your bag when a knock at your door pulled you up.

“Hey,” Peter said as you opened the door and scrunched your face a little at him. “Are you jet lagged? I was going to stay up and do a little homework, but it’s so quiet in my room.”

“Great minds think alike, I guess,” you said, making him blush. “I was about to do homework too…we could work together?” He nodded, so you stepped back and welcomed him into your room. You repositioned yourself against the headboard of your bed amongst the sprawling papers you laid out of all the assignments you had that weekend. “Wanna do chem? Since we have that test next week?”

Peter nodded again and the two of you got to work, getting not only the assignment done but also reviewing everything under the sun. He eventually moved from the desk up to sit at the end of your bed as the two of you worked and quizzed each other, making up practice problems and solving several equations. Without realizing, you continued all the way into the late hours of the night.

Tony slept fitfully and, unbeknownst to you, in the room right next to yours. His mind raced through everything that had happened; he processed detail after detail from Vienna, New York, Lagos, Sokovia, and everything in between. Eventually succumbing to the lack of sleep, he resorted to laying on his back and staring straight at the ceiling to slow his mind. Just as he started to settle a little, you cheered after solving a really difficult problem. Hearing your voice still awake and confused as to why he was hearing your voice at all, he trudged out the door and to your room.

The knock at your door at nearly one in the morning made you and Peter stiffen, halting all celebration from figuring out the complex question you had been working on or several minutes. You locked eyes with him, then stood to see who it was at this time of night. Spying Tony through the peephole, you opened the door to greet him.

“What are you still doing—what are _you_ doing here?” He suddenly spotted Peter sitting on the edge of your bed behind you. Part of him was happy the two of you were spending time together, but the new dad part of him panicked. Dads weren’t supposed to let their teenage daughters hang out with teenage boys late at night in hotel rooms in Europe.

“Mr. Stark, I…I…I told you we had homework,” Peter cautiously reminded.

“Nah, nope, not gonna do. I ship it, but I’m also her dad,” Tony affirmed, striding past you and grabbing Peter’s arm to pull him out of your room. On his way back past you, he put his hand on your shoulder. “Like I said, I like _this_ ,” he indicated between you and Peter, who stared up at him with a horrified expression, “but I also have to be a dad. So good night, love you, you’re not old enough for that yet, sleep tight!”

“Ok? Um, good night?” You said to him as he pulled Peter through the door. “Night…night Peter.”

“Bye, Y/N!” Peter said just as the door shut behind him. Though Peter didn’t resist at all, Tony dragged him down the hallway until they reached Peter’s own room. He finally let go outside Peter’s door and planted the boy right in front of him. Tony couldn’t keep a laugh down as Peter stared up at him, all the color completely flushed from his face.

“Mr. Stark, I can explain—”

“You don’t have to, Spider-ling; I’m not mad.”

“You’re not?”

“No! I know you guys weren’t doing anything. Plus, like I’ve said before, I like you two together. Even if you won’t admit it.”

“Mr. Stark, it’s not—”

“Again, like I said before, save it. First Spider-Man, now this. You’re not good at keeping secrets from me, you know. It’s a wonder the whole world doesn’t know you’re the kid behind the friendly neighborhood spider-man mask.”

Peter’s shoulders fell with his cover blown. He pursed his lips, a little embarrassed but simultaneously relieved to have the secret off his chest. “I really care about her, Mr. Stark.”

Tony smiled warmly at Peter’s adoration of you. “And that, my friend,” Tony put his hand on Peter’s shoulder, “is where I come in. You may know this already, but I have a reputation for being a bit of a ladies’ man.” Tony winked and grinned, though his expression fell away quickly. “Before Pepper, of course. Now I’m just one lady’s man. But we’ll get you through this as soon as we get home, ok?”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark, I get so nervous and—” Tony started pushing Peter into the hotel room and closed the door behind him.

“Yeah, makes sense…talk about it more tomorrow…ok…bye!”

And with that, Tony slipped back down the hall to his own room to try and rest however few hours he could.

* * *

 

You were ready long before Happy knocked on your door the following morning. Tony had gone ahead to try and talk with Steve, so it was only you and Peter in the backseat of Happy’s car.

“I hope Tony didn’t say anything weird last night,” you eventually leaned over and whispered to Peter, eyes staying put on the road.

“Uh, no actually, nothing weird,” Peter remarked, the comment jogging his memory of the previous night’s conversation with his mentor. “It was…really good, actually.” He looked over to you, who now stared back at him with eyebrows raised. _What on earth did Tony do now?_

“Alright, kids, we’re here,” Happy announced, parking the car adjacent to the quinjet and jumping out to open your doors, though both of you had already stepped out of the vehicle. “Peter, your suit is in the back. Y/N, Tony wants you stationed on the quinjet. He’s got a com there for you and surveillance set up in the jet so you can hear and see everything. But you are to _stay put_ unless there is an absolute emergency. You got it?”

“Yes, Happy. Stay put. I got it.” You nodded, turning to walk up the ramp into the quinjet. Peter, meanwhile, emerged from the back seat of the car already changed into his suit. He slipped the mask on just as the three of you heard yelling a short way away and a flying figure landed nearby. Peter whipped on his mask while Happy ushered you the rest of the way up into the quinjet’s ramp, closing it behind you before darting back to the car and driving away.

In the quinjet, you walked over to the video monitor station Tony had set up for you. A small note from Tony read just as Happy advised: “STAY PUT.” A second sticky note below it had an added message, however, reading: “P.S. Do I sign this ‘Love, Dad’? or ‘Tony’? We’ll talk about it later.” You shook your head and smiled; that was a classic Tony thing to say.

You positioned the headset over your ears, immediately hearing every word shared between the super soldiers lined up across from each other. The airport had been evacuated, you noted, seeing no heat signatures in the building. While you got your bearings of the terrain, you mostly tuned out the arguing; besides, it made you a little uncomfortable. Both Tony and Steve made good points and you cared a lot for both of them. You snapped back to attention when Tony called out a term you heard once before but couldn’t place.

“UNDEROOS!”

 _Where had you heard that before?_ Peter swung onto frame all of a sudden and answered that question, shooting out a web and nabbing Steve’s shield in the process. He landed in a crouch, immediately saluting Steve and being a dork in the process. You couldn’t stop the grin forming on your face as he started speaking to all the others, who promptly reminded him that there wasn’t usually that much talking in a fight.

Combat then broke out before you knew it and quickly escalated as more people showed up from both sides. One guy seemed to appear out of nowhere and disappear, inflicting damage without anyone seeing him. When you zoomed in on the screen, you could see a tiny heat signature, and deduced that that superhero must be shrinking and growing. _He’s practically the size of an ant_ , you noted.

You cringed as you watched your friends fight. Steve and Tony went at it, which you had trouble watching and had to look away from. You heard Tony’s suit fly away, however, as he must have seen opportunity elsewhere. But then you heard Peter’s voice talking to Steve and whipped back to the screen, eyebrows pressing together. Peter shot out his webs, wrapping them around Steve’s feet and pulling him to the ground. Steve’s tactical experience came in handy, though, and he grabbed the webs and pulled sharply so that Peter smashed into his shield. Peter swung away, only for Steve to launch his shield into the air and slice the web. Peter shot another couple of webs to catch himself and landed on the wing of a plane.

“That shield does not obey the laws of physics at all!” Peter remarked, never having had to fight against the man with the shield before. He tried to appear confident on the outside, but no opponent had ever sliced through his webs like that. You could see his gears turning, the eyes twitching as he tried to decide his next move while Steve talked to him. 

“Peter,” you spoke into your com, “Peter, can you hear me?” Peter looked up and around as if you were in the sky somewhere and you shook your head at him. “No, Peter, I’m on the coms, dummy.” He looked back to Steve, who noted Peter’s distraction and seized the opportunity to launch his shield at the boy again. You gasped as Peter leapt into the air, his own body nearly sliced by the shield this time.

“Listen, Y/N, as much as I’d love to talk to you, it might not be the best time—” He launched another web, leaping out of the way of another one of Steve’s attacks. He then shot another web at the shield, trying to steal it again, only for Steve to wisely use the webbing itself to pull Peter down to him.

“Peter, you can’t beat him this way, you have to use a different web!”

“I haven’t tested any of them!”

“I installed and tested them. Try the taser web—”

“I don’t want to _electrocute_ him!” He cried out as he crashed into a beam supporting part of the airport’s exterior wall. You grimaced at the sight, knowing that would leave a mark even with his enhanced healing.

“It’s not strong enough to do that. Aim for the shield and the current will carry through the vibranium—”

“And it’ll shock him…so he can’t use the shield…” he leapt again, dodging another fly-by of the shield. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Peter, you have to trust me on this.”

The urgency in your voice gave him the last push to tell Karen to switch web types. As soon as she confirmed the switch, he did exactly as you said, hitting the shield square in the star in the center with the taser web. Steve yelped and tossed the shield up and away from him nearly instantly. In that second, Peter switched the webs back to regular and grabbed the shield again, though this time he webbed it to the ground so Steve couldn’t retrieve it. Steve could still punch, though, and knocked down the legs supporting the jet bridge looming over Peter. It collapsed on top of him, though he caught it above his head.

“You got heart, kid. Where are you from, again?”

“Queens,” Peter squeaked out.

Steve chuckled. “Brooklyn,” he announced, and trotted off to help his team. Once Peter tossed the jet bridge off his shoulders, he ran off to help elsewhere, though not without thanking you for the help first. He couldn’t see it, but your face warmed at his praise.

Peter being unoccupied, you turned your attention to Tony on one of the other screens. You warned him of Wanda incoming, followed by Sam, and worked as his eyes in the sky. That was what you told yourself, at least, even though he was also in the sky for part of the battle and could certainly hold his own. “Y/N, I need you to call Vision,” he suddenly asked, and you got on it, summoning him as fast as possible. A yellow beam of light from none other than the mind stone on Vision’s forehead then scanned across the concrete in front of Steve’s team that walked in a line toward Tony. They now faced each other, each team in a line, and slowly broke out into a full sprint at each other. You jumped from screen to screen, trying to keep eyes on everyone and everything going on. You told them positions, helped strategize team efforts, and tried your best to warm them of attacks they couldn’t see coming. It got harder the more the battle spread out across the tarmac.

At one point, the man who was previously as small as an ant suddenly grew to 100 feet tall, towering over the entire airport.

“Hey guys, you ever see that really old movie, _Empire Strikes Back?”_ Peter asked the group as he swung around and around the giant ant man’s legs to wrap him up. Rhodey bickered with Tony, a little hurt by the concept that that was considered a ‘really old movie.’

“Hey – kid’s got a point! Rhodey, you go high!” After Peter tied the giant’s legs together, Rhodey pushed him from up top and Tony from the bottom in the opposite direction. The man quickly toppled over, destroying a plane in his path. Peter crashed down to the ground and Tony landed next to him, quickly trying to pull the kid’s mask off to make sure he was ok. Peter squirmed underneath, initially fighting back.

“Hey! Hey! Same team! Same team!” Tony said, grasping Peter’s wrists until he relaxed.

“Oh—we gotta—we gotta go—” Peter tried to scramble up, though Tony kept him glued to the ground.

“Nope. No. You’re done, kid. Done.” Tony stood and flew off, speaking into his coms now. “Y/N, please go help Cabbage Patch on the ground over there.”

“No, Mr. Stark, I’m fine…I’m fine,” He twisted around to get up as you opened the ramp of the quinjet and sprinted toward him with a hefty first aid kid. “No, ok, I’m done, I’m done,” Peter grunted, and you giggled as you saw him lay back down and on the concrete. You would’ve been concerned, but FRIDAY assured you he had no serious injuries.

You stood beside Peter, who still lay on the ground with his mask half off, only moments later. He had one knee propped up and hands laced together on his stomach with his eyes closed as if completely at ease. As you knelt down, another quinjet took off from across the runway. Rhodey shot off after it, followed by Tony and Sam flying after him. Peter pressed the spider on the front of his suit; it relaxed so you could start treating all the cuts below the surface. Just as you finished disinfecting the biggest cut along his collarbone, Tony called into the coms for help from Vision on the ground. Another yellow beam shot up into the sky and you watched as Sam rolled his wings into a sphere to dodge the attack. The beam shot by him and hit Rhodey instead. The silver suit stopped climbing in the sky and the light from the jets on the soles of the boots disappeared as gravity caught up with it. You helped Peter clamber up as Tony tried to speak to Rhodey through the coms. No response came; the suit had clearly shut down. Tony and Sam stopped their ascent and flew in Rhodey’s direction at top speed to try and catch him, but Rhodey smashed into the ground quicker than they could stop him. You started running in their direction, but Peter caught your arm and held you back. They were far enough away that you couldn’t see them but knew that they were all kneeling together on the ground. Sam must’ve been on the ground with them, you determined, because a fragment of his apology came through Tony’s mic before Tony blasted him away with his repulsor.

“Y/N, we should get back to the quinjet and get it prepped for Rhodey. He’s going to need emergency care,” Peter said behind you, still clutching your arm so you couldn’t run off. You turned and nodded, the two of you quickly trotting over to the quinjet and getting a table set up. Tony flew over only moments later, Rhodey unconscious and draped over his shoulder. The three of you laid him down and you immediately hooked up the heart monitor and other systems in the quinjet just as Bruce and Helen taught you. By the time you had him on fluids and were preparing to do scans and basic x-rays, the quinjet lifted off the ground and accelerated in the direction of the compound.

You swallowed thickly with the realization that he still wasn’t waking up. He had a pulse and a heartbeat, but you wished there was more you could do than sit there to bring him back. Peter once again detected your stress, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got up to stand next to you and the medical screens and scans in front of you.

The two of your stood silently; you had done all you could with the resources on the quinjet and with your education. The quinjet’s systems were supporting him in case something was to happen, and he would definitely make it back to the compound for Helen to treat him, but you still found yourself on edge about the situation.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, Pete,” you whispered, eyes unwavering from the monitors. “It’s like my family is falling apart.”

He sighed, knowing the feeling. He wouldn’t have wished it on his worst enemy and especially not on you. He thought of his parents, of Ben, of the people he loved, of the ways his own family had fallen apart. He wasn’t going to let you become one of those fallen parts. He carefully wrapped his arm around you and rubbed your shoulder with his still-gloved hand. Your heartbeat quickened but the loneliness you felt all week lingered and overpowered your nerves. You leaned into his side and wrapped your arm around his suit, looking up at him as his mouth opened as if to speak. He blinked a few times, putting the words together, before looking down to meet your gaze from his shoulder and whispering down to you.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOOOOO I did not know this would turn out like this but I kiiiiiinda like it so I hope you had funnnn!!!!! Let me know what you think :)


	10. I'm Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A risky departure leaves you completely alone and afraid. School surprises only add to the whirlwind of emotions you’re feeling. Though hesitant, you seek out help from a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I’m posting this late tonight!! This chapter is super different than any of the other chapters but for some reason it’s what I was feeling. Also, I’m lonely, so it’s a little…angsty. But it’s also fluffy? Idk. I can’t tell. Good luck and enjoy.

Rhodey was rushed into the lab almost as soon as the quinjet touched down at the compound. Along with Tony and Peter, you ran with the gurney to make sure he got there quickly and was well taken care of. Once Helen got him into surgery and kicked the three of you out, however, you found your adrenaline falling and the consequences of the fight hitting you…hard. Before you could control it, your eyes started to pool with tears that refused to go away. Peter sensed your unease before he saw it and turned to see you, but you were already out the door and hustling to your room. He watched as you moved, somewhere between a walk and a jog, with your head down, fighting to keep the emotions down. Every fiber of his being wanted to follow you and comfort you but, given how self-conscious you already seemed about the emotions, he didn’t want to make it worse.

Tony, meanwhile, had retreated to the balcony off the common room as soon as Rhodey was in Helen’s care and another doctor had treated his own arm. He only had a second to breathe in the fresh air before his watch beeped with an urgent notification.

Tony, meanwhile, had retreated to the balcony off the common room as soon as Rhodey was in Helen’s care and another doctor had treated his own arm. He only had a second to breathe in the fresh air before his watch beeped with an urgent notification.

“What am I looking at, FRIDAY?”

“Priority upload from Berlin Police.”

“Fire up the chopper.”

Walking as quickly as he could with his arm in a sling, he passed Peter on his way to the helipad. “Hey, Swing set, I have to…go. Will you tell Y/N?”

“Uh, sure, Mr. Stark. Where are you going?” Tony wanted to answer but had also seen you flee the scene as soon as Rhodey got inside. He didn’t want to make things worse or increase your stress any more than he already blamed himself for.

“Just…just tell her Steve’s in trouble and I need to…to help him. Yeah.” Tony started walking again, leaving Peter. He turned around at the top of the stairs to face Peter once again. “And just be there for her, Pete. I think she needs that right now.”

Peter nodded sincerely, accepting the task of caring for you as if it was a mission. From where he stood in the common room, he could see your door closed and the lights off. Some time alone wouldn’t hurt, and he’d see you at school tomorrow. He’d be there for you then and after.

Before school that Monday, you woke up to two texts: one from Tony saying he loved you and was sorry he wasn’t being a better dad, and the other from Peter telling you where Tony went. Though both were meant to be comforting, “comfortable” was not a word you would’ve used to describe the way you felt as you went through school that day.

Your mood was not improved in the slightest by all the new signs going up announcing homecoming. It didn’t help that Ned – though he was trying to be friendly and get you excited, of course – kept gushing about it in classes you had together. Love was not something you needed to hear about when you were struggling with the fact that more than half the people you had grown to care so much for were missing, in prison, and, in the case of Tony and Steve, walking into what even Tony called a really dangerous situation.

Even MJ’s news at lunch that you were officially accepted onto the decathlon team did nothing to improve your outlook. Your dismal reaction surprised your friends as you had been so excited to try out just days before.

“Y/N, did you hear MJ? You’re on the team!”

“Yeah, yeah, Ned. Sorry.”

“You good?” MJ questioned, as you were upset enough that even she couldn’t ignore it.

“Uh, yeah. Just didn’t sleep well, I guess.” Though MJ and Ned accepted that answer as it was in fact a common issue plaguing high school students, Peter knew better. He left lunch that day more worried about you than when he sat down, though it didn’t last long.

As the four of you exited the cafeteria after lunch, you nearly crashed into a boy holding up a large poster outside. Staggering backwards, you saw it was Harry Osborn, a boy in a couple of your classes. You saw him frequently enough that you knew who he was, but not well enough for him to stop and talk in the hallway. Wanting to move on, you apologized with a small smile and tried to step around him. He stepped in front of you again, putting his hand on your shoulder before the traffic of the hallway could whisk you away.

“Y/N, wait! I wanted to ask you something!” His eyes glanced down to the sign he held up in front of him, which you now looked down to read. _“I couldn’t bear not asking you to homecoming…”_ You felt a little numb with everything that had already happened and this strange thing unfolding in front of you added yet another thing to the mix. Harry held out a stuffed teddy bear as you looked up at him, eyes widening.

“Well, I couldn’t _bear_ not asking you, so…what do you say, Y/N? Will you go to homecoming with me?”

Your lips parted and you looked at him, hoping the answer would come out on their own. In the moment before you responded, you thought back to when you found out about homecoming just hours earlier. You didn’t have a ton of hope that day, but when Ned told you about the dance, Harry was definitely not the boy you _hoped_ would ask you. Plus, this was more words than he had ever spoken to you. But a thought flashed in your head: you hadn’t heard of someone saying no to an ask like this. Rejecting the poor guy in front of all these people…that would take more courage than it probably took for him to ask you in the first place. That was courage you didn’t have at the moment.

“I—uh, sure,” you finally stammered, and he handed you the bear before grinning broadly as a couple of his friends behind him cheered. He stepped forward for an awkward side-hug that you wanted no part of.

As the ask unfolded, Peter backed up from his place behind you, Ned, and MJ until he ran into the wall behind him. He caught his balance and dashed of down the hallway opposite the direction you were facing with Harry. His mind raced; he didn’t even know if he would’ve been able to ask you. _But how did Harry get everything prepared so quickly?_ Who knew – maybe with another day to think he would’ve been able to work up the confidence. What he did know was that he had to get away from the situation.

As if it was his sixth sense to detect when something was up with Peter, Ned noticed him escape and chased after him. MJ followed close behind – what could be more entertaining than a chase? That left you alone with people who were peers but who couldn’t feel more like strangers. With the horrible hug over, Harry and his friends headed off to class, fist-bumping along the way. Though surrounded by bustling students in the hallway, you clutched the stupid teddy bear as incapacitating isolation overwhelmed you.

Despite being physically present in the rest of your classes that day, your attention couldn’t have been more absent. Thoughts bounced all over and it took everything in your power not to just text Pepper or Happy and ask to go home. With them just as concerned about Tony’s departure, however, the last thing you wanted to do was add to their stress. Instead, you toughed it out, and Happy picked you up at the end of the school day like normal. But you felt everything but normal.

Happy could tell something was off as your typical cheeriness and conversation was missing. He alerted Pepper while the two of you sat at a red light, so she was there to greet you when you arrived home. She hadn’t hesitated to step away from her office; _Stark Industries_ could wait.

You trudged up the stairs into the common room with downcast eyes, ready to fall into bed. From the kitchen table, the teddy bear in your arms was the first thing that caught Pepper’s attention.

“Whatcha got there?”

You hadn’t seen her as you walked in. “Huh? Oh…it’s a teddy bear.”

“Right, and why do you have it?”

You sighed as your brain refreshed what happened that day. Though the events surrounding the teddy bear were definitely not a favorable part of the day, you were far more concerned about other things. But you could talk about a teddy bear. That situation wasn’t potentially deadly.

“I, uh…I got asked to homecoming today.”

“Oh! That’s great!” She stood up and came over to take the teddy bear from you with a smile, a follow-up question instantly forming in her mind. “Was it…”

“Harry. Harry Osborn.” You dropped your backpack and moved back over to the table, slumping down across from where she was initially sitting.

“I don’t think I’ve heard you talk about him,” Pepper confessed, sitting back down in the chair across from you.

“Exactly.”

“I see. So, this boy you barely know asked you,” she explained, treading lightly. She didn’t want to put words in your mouth but, like Tony, felt the oblivious nature you and Peter shared was completely laughable. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“Um, yeah, actually,” you admitted, far too distraught to keep your walls up. “I was kinda hoping someone else would ask me.”

Pepper sighed, knowing exactly who you were talking about. “You could’ve said no, you know.”

“Really?! Ugh,” you groaned, dropping your head into your hands. “I only learned about homecoming this morning, so I wasn’t sure.”

“I’m sorry, hun. I’m sure you’ll still have fun with this boy. Is he nice?”

“I don’t even know. I just…I really don’t want to go with him. I really wanted to go with someone _else.”_

“Peter?” Pepper pried, giving you an opportunity to admit it if you wanted. “Were you hoping to go with Peter?”

As if on cue, Peter walked up the stairs and into the common room where you and Pepper were sitting. Your eyes widened and jaw dropped as you quickly stood up, muttering something about needing to do homework before scurrying away to your room.

“Hi, Ms. Potts,” Peter muttered, looking from your now-closed bedroom door to Pepper sitting with her arms crossed at the kitchen table. “I, uh…I heard my name? Did I do something wrong?”

Pepper stood and walked over to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “No, you’ve done nothing wrong. But just don't…don’t give up on her, ok?”

Pepper looked down at him, her face so conflicted yet also hopeful. Peter nodded, accepting this challenge just like he had Tony’s the day before, and stayed in place as Pepper walked away. Eventually, he drifted to his room to finish his homework and go to bed, once again not wanting to get in your space when you already seemed overwhelmed.

* * *

The moment you set foot in your room with the door closed that afternoon, it was like a wave crashed over you. Everything you were feeling but had held back hit hard, all confronting you instantaneously. You couldn’t hold the tears off for long before they consumed you for hours at a time. You did get the occasional break from whatever these strong emotions were but as soon as you’d think back to any part of the day or see the bear or your Iron Man sweatshirt, it was like the dam would open and everything would flow again. It didn’t help that you were completely by yourself but asking someone for help seemed an impossible task.

Until about ten o’clock, that is. You had taken advantage of a quick break in crying to shower and finish what homework you could before you felt everything welling up again. You peeked in the mirror, seeing your eyes completely red and puffy and face more drained than ever. You bit your lip, trying yet again to keep the emotions down as you looked at yourself. Your breathing shallowed but you couldn’t let this pain overwhelm you again. You weren’t sure if you could take the force of another wave.

 **You:** Are you still up?

Peter lay in his bed having just turned his lamp off when his phone buzzed. Though a little puzzled by your message, he didn’t hesitate in responding.

 **Peter:** Yeah, what’s up?

His curiosity grew as the three dots indicating you were typing never showed up. Instead, he heard movement across the hall – obviously in your room – followed by your door opening. He propped himself up on his elbow as knocks sounded from the hallway.

“Come in…?” His door creaked open just enough for you to stick your head in. He could barely see it in the darkness, but the moonlight he let in from outside illuminated your face just enough for him to recognize you. “Y/N? Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I…um—” you held your breath, fighting to keep down a sob that seemed to come out of nowhere, “I’m sorry, Peter, I shouldn’t have—”

“Y/N?” Peter flicked on his lamp to reveal you standing just inside his doorway but starting to turn around. Your hands covered your face, but it didn’t stop him from hearing the muffled sob leaving your lips. He jumped out of bed and caught your arm before you could get out into the hallway and away from him. He reached around you to close the door, giving you as much privacy as he could. “Y/N, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, Peter…I should go—”

“Y/N, you can tell me anything.”

Just that little assurance pushed you over the edge. You pressed your lips together, trying to smile and force away the flood of tears brimming your eyes. The look you found in Peter’s eyes when you finally glanced up at him told you he wasn’t going to give up on this.

“I’m afraid Tony won’t make it back.” Peter nodded with your concession, giving you time as you inhaled and pressed your lips together to fight back another involuntary sob. “He’s been better than I ever imagined a dad would be and the thought of losing him—”

The sob broke out at that point and you dropped your head down as several tears cascaded down your cheeks. He stepped forward, silently offering a hug.

“Pepper is just as worried and so I can’t go to her…I didn’t know who else to go to, Pete,” you stammered around hitches in your breath as you leaned in to Peter’s hug. “I’m so sorry—”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Peter whispered, his face right by your ear as you pressed your forehead into the crook of his neck and broke into sobs. “Don’t apologize. I’m here, ok? I got you.”

Your body collapsed more and more into him as the tears overwhelmed you. He balanced by holding you in that much closer, tenderly rubbing your back as he let you cry. Though his primary concern was taking care of you, complicating thoughts danced in the back of his mind. The main one was that, since you already had a date to the dance…and it wasn’t him…was it wrong of him to be here with you like this?

With a gasp for air as another round of sobs racked your body, Peter’s apprehension faded in an instant. He didn’t care if there was another guy. All he knew was that he could feel his heart breaking seeing you like this and he would do whatever he could to be there for you.

“Hey, deep breath. I got you, ok?” His arms wrapped around you tighter and you tucked your head down to rest your head on his right shoulder, the top of your head up against his neck.

“Thank you, Pete,” you whispered. You could feel the tension in your fingers of your right hand that had subconsciously clutched his sweatshirt on his left shoulder. His let his own head relax down against yours. He kept running his hand along your back, trying to be soothing in whatever way he could. You stayed in his arms and he held you there, reminding you he was there and rocking you side to side whenever breathing got particularly difficult.

You didn’t know how long you stayed in his arms by the lamp light in his room. Eventually, though, exhaustion took over and the tears slowed. Peter encouraged you to breath in and out, slowing the rapid breaths still making you shudder. As each breath deepened, Peter could feel your upper body expand and contract more and more in his arms.

Your breathing nearly back to normal, Peter pulled his head away to see your face. You had your head pressed against him; eyes forced closed but still notably red with drying tracks of tears down your hot cheeks. You stayed nestled in place for another moment, not yet ready to let go. Peter’s breath ghosting over your face as he spoke finally made you open your eyes to look up at him.

“You doing ok?” His hand slid from your back to your arm and he supported you as you leaned back from him ever so slightly. Your head finally leaving his shoulder revealed the sizable wet spot on his shirt from your tears. You pulled your right hand from around his back and pointed to the spot.

“Oh my gosh, Peter…I’m so sorry—”

“Hey,” he said sharply, squeezing your arm such that you looked into his eyes instead of his shirt. “I don’t care about the shirt.”

You sighed and pressed your eyes closed to get rid of the remaining tears. The last drop rolled down your cheek slowly and your jaw tightened, your eyes moving back down to his shirt.

“I care about _you,”_ he continued, giving your arm another quick squeeze. Your eyebrows arched up in the middle as your gaze came up to meet his. “As long as you’re ok, I don’t care about a t-shirt.”

 _“Peter!”_ You practically whined, dropping your forehead straight down on his shoulder just beside his neck and bringing your hands around to the points of his shoulders.

“What?”

“You’re too good to me.”

“And you’re too tired,” he quipped, smiling down at you still nestled and hiding on his chest. “You need sleep, but…are you going to be ok?

You finally let go and took a step back as if to test out the air for yourself. It was ridiculous how quickly you missed his warmth and his arms around you. The thought of going back to your room alone felt even colder, making you hug your own elbows in tight.

“I…I don’t want to be alone,” you squeaked.

“That’s ok. You can sleep here – if…if you want, of course – and I’ll sleep on the floor. I’ll be right next to you if you need anything, ok?”

“No, Peter. I’m not making you sleep on the floor. You’ve already done too much for me.”

“I insist,” he asserted, moving around you to pull back the sheets on his bed for you. You climbed in and he darted out to the common room, reappearing a moment later with a few blankets to make his own bed. Once settled, he leaned up to turn off the light.

“You need _anything,_ I’m right here. Got it?”

“Got it,” you nodded, and he switched off the lamp on his nightstand, coating the room in black besides the moonlight still shining in through the window.

“Thank you, Pete,” you whispered, staring up at the ceiling.

“You’re welcome. Good night, Y/N.”

“Night, Pete.”

Silence coated the room. You stayed staring up at the ceiling for a bit, trying to get your brain away from the same ugly images it showed you earlier. Peter, meanwhile, tried to figure out what you might be thinking with everything that happened to you in the last 24 hours. He recounted every detail and each memory he had revolved around you, allowing him to drift off to sleep much more quickly than he intended.

* * *

His sleep ended up short-lived as he woke up with hair on end less than an hour later. He slipped on his mask to ask Karen to silently scan the area for crimes, but the query came up short. Then you whimpered from up on the bed right above him. He whipped the mask off and hopped up, finding you curled into a ball and facing away from him. Silent sobs left your lips. It only took a second before he couldn’t handle it any more.

“Y/N,” he breathed, climbing up on his bed so he could reach you. He cautiously rested his hand on your arm. At his voice and touch, you whirled around to face him, not having realized he woke up.

The pale moonlight lit up your bloodshot eyes as Peter looked at you, pained by how devastated you appeared. Your shock wore off almost instantly seeing his soft face hovering nearby.

“Peter—”

You whined as he pulled you upright and once again wrapped his arms around you. The two of you sat silently this time as you sniffled, eventually pulling away and hunching over with your head in your hands. He turned, repositioning himself and leaning up against his headboard with his hand slowly rubbing your rounded back.

Exhaustion plagued you once again; your eyelids slowed with each blink. The fear never ceased, however, and you lifted your heavy head and rotated to face Peter. He looked at you dolefully as you fought to control each breath. Your anxieties waged a war inside; you couldn’t handle the thought that Tony might not come back, and you wanted to find yourself back in Peter’s arms. But you’d be lying if you said moving closer to Peter didn’t make you nervous; in reality, his touch made your heart flutter. _But Peter is Peter,_ you reminded yourself as you looked up at him.

“Please don’t leave me,” you whispered, your voice cracking with each syllable. You moved closer to him and he welcomed you in, creating space for your head between his left shoulder and chest for you to rest your head. He once again wrapped his arms around you, drawing you in to the safety of his embrace.

“Never…I’m not going anywhere, remember?” His breath ghosted across your forehead. He reached his right arm around and pulled your hand out of the crook you had nestled yourself into between his left arm and side. He interlaced your fingers with his and rested both your hands on his chest. His heart pounded below your fingers, the rhythm somehow reassuring.

“Mhm,” you hummed in answer, nodding against his chest and tightening your fingers in his. His other arm stroked your back, seizing every opportunity to try to ease you to sleep.

The more your own breathing slowed, the more Peter’s spidey sense lessened; so much so that he eventually drifted off to sleep in his propped-up position. His warmth compounded with your own fatigue and finally dragged you under only minutes later.

* * *

An unfamiliar electronic beep pulled you out of your peaceful slumber the next morning. Peter’s hand left yours and he shifted underneath you to reach for his alarm, stopping the beeping. He peered down at you, your own eyes still closed and breathing deeply on his chest. He smiled sheepishly at you, looking so peaceful and content compared to the pain he witnessed in your face only hours earlier.

“Hey,” he whispered down, pausing as your eyes fluttered open. “We have to get up.”

“Noooo…I wanna stay…you’re comfy…”

Peter chuckled at your mumbling. “Trust me, staying would be my best day ever, but we have to go to school, sleepyhead.”

With a deep breath and crackled moan as you sat up and stretched your back. You turned to face Peter, who hadn’t yet moved, but stared and watched as your eyes lit back up at the sight of him, his hair ruffled and eyes groggy with deep sleep.

“Thanks, Peter. I know I crossed some lines—”

“Nope. I’m here. I’ll tell you a million times.”

“Well…thank you. I’m…I’m gonna go get dressed.”

“Ok,” he nodded sadly, “If you need anything, I’m right here.”

“Thank you. A _million_ times, thank you.”

You smiled softly at each other as you climbed out of his bed and swung your legs off. He pulled the blankets back and got up as you opened his door, smiling back at him once more as you closed it behind you and stepped across the hall.

Peter took a few deep breaths to collect himself before throwing on some clothes and getting ready for school. Happy drove both of you together, somewhat thankful for the comfortable silence throughout the drive.

Peter stayed by your side every second he could at school. Harry was barely there, as usual, but that couldn’t have bothered you less. What mattered was that Peter was there, next to you whenever your mind wandered down paths you didn’t want to explore. You found comfort in the glances you would throw him whenever those thoughts crept up, and he’d exaggerate slow breaths as if reminding you what to do. Ned and MJ weren’t oblivious to these exchanges.

“What’s up with them? It’s like they just got Lasik and can finally see each other,” Ned joked when he and MJ finally got away from you and Peter in the hallway.

“I was going to say they look like the heart eyes emoji but a little sad.”

* * *

Peter rode back to the compound with you, too, as he needed to go back and grab his stuff. Leaving the garage when you got home, you walked down the hall until you reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to the common room. Voices you recognized echoed from up above, and you sprinted up the stairs ahead of Peter.

“The ride home was easy, Pep, I swear I’m fine— _oof,”_ Tony grunted as you leapt into his arms and he weakly caught you.

“You’re home!”

“Yes! I’m glad your vision is ok, kiddo.”

Peter stood at the top of the stairs now, relieved not only that his mentor had returned but also that you were smiling again. He snuck behind Tony, getting only a quick wave as he slipped into his room without your notice.

“I never answered your question,” you said to Tony, still propped up in his arms. He looked at you, no sarcastic comment in return as he legitimately wasn’t sure what you were talking about. “To your note? In the quinjet. You asked if you should sign it ‘Love, Dad’ or ‘Love, Tony.’ I’d like ‘Love, Dad.’”

Pepper’s eyes watered and she smiled behind you. Tony set you down, the widest smile in days growing on his face. Pepper stepped in from behind and you found yourself wrapped in a big group hug between the two of them.

“And can I call you Mom?”

“Of course.”

Peter walked back out of his room to find the three of you having your moment. He tip-toed back to the stairs to leave, content at the sight of you with your new family.

Helen showed up a few moments later and asked Tony to come down to the lab for a check-up. Pepper went along with him and you turned around, hoping to find Peter standing by, but he was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t in his room – where his bed was immaculately made, you noticed, probably thanks to Aunt May’s teaching – and wasn’t in your room, either. When he wasn’t in the common room the second time you checked, you pulled out your phone to find a text from him.

 **Peter:** Hey, Y/N. I went home to help May and give you some time with Mr. Stark. I’m really glad you came to me last night…it hurts to see you like that but if you had been alone and I found out later…I couldn’t handle it. Mr. Stark is back but, like I said, I’m here and you know where to find me. I’ll always be here.

You smiled down at your phone; Peter’s words warmed your heart.

 **You:** I don’t know what to say…You really are too good to me. It goes both ways, though. You need anything, I’ll always be here, too. I couldn’t handle you hurt either, Spidey <3


	11. Distractions and Hints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and company convince you to come to the academic decathlon tournament in Washington D.C. Peter disappears for the night, only to return just as catastrophe strikes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Off of the DC trip from Spider-Man: Homecoming. As always, hope you enjoy :) Please please please leave feedback and know that I love every single comment!!!

Despite it being one of the best nights of sleep you’d ever had, the night Peter stayed with you didn’t come up the next week at school. What did come up, however, was the decathlon team’s trip to Washington D.C.

“You have to come, Y/N!”

“I just joined the team, Ned. I don’t think it makes sense.”

“So? It means you don’t have to come to school Friday,” MJ reasoned. You raised your eyebrows and pursed your lips as you actually considered it; that was their most logical argument so far.

Ned elbowed his friend on his left. “Peter, don’t you think Y/N should come to D.C.?”

“I--,” his voice faltered as he made eye contact with you for what he felt was a few seconds too long.

“Yeah, you should come.” His lips rounded up into a fake smile that didn’t match the look in his eyes as he looked back down at the food on the tray in front of him.

“It’s settled. Y/N will come to D.C.” 

“Ned, come on—” you protested, cut short by the bell ringing and marking the end of lunch. Though part of you wanted to object as you didn’t think you’d be useful to the team, the other part of you loved how your new friends already wanted you to come on a trip with them. With that in mind, you didn’t bring it up again.

“Peter, can I ask you something?”

Ned and Peter strolled down the sidewalk on the way to Peter’s apartment from the subway station. The clouds were a light gray overhead and a cool breeze chilled the air as the boys fell into step. Peter looked at his friend curiously before nodding and encouraging him to continue.

“Does Y/N going to homecoming with Harry bother you?”

Peter stopped in his tracks, eyebrows deeply furrowed at his friend, who had then stopped and turned back to face him. “Why would you ask that?”

“Because you like her?”

“Wha—what? No—”

“Peter. You _literally_ told me. Remember?” Ned stared at his flustered friend quizzically. “You’re the one who called me and said you were in trouble after you hung out with her the first time? And then you had me coach you through a whole gala because you thought she looked so pretty you couldn’t speak? And then you were giddy for days both times she fell asleep in your arms?”

“Oh. Well, yeah. I forgot I told you.”

_“Told_ me? You couldn’t _stop_ telling me!”

“Ok, ok! I get it! I like her. Maybe a lot. So?” 

“So…Y/N? At homecoming? With someone who is _not_ you?” 

Peter huffed and started walking toward the apartment again, his friend right by his side. “Yeah, makes me feel just _dandy,_ Ned. Thanks for bringing it up.” 

“Sorry, I just…what are you going to do? I mean…if you want to talk about it.” 

“I don’t know, Ned. I really wanted to go with _her.”_

“I know, man. I know,” Ned consoled, putting his arm around Peter’s slumped shoulders. “But Harry already asked her.” 

Even though you and Peter were in no way together, the thought of you dressed up like you were for the gala and taking pictures with someone who wasn’t him made Peter feel a little sick to his stomach. But he knew it wouldn’t be possible for him to be the one to take you. 

“I need to get her out of my head,” he decided aloud. “Since she said yes to him, she must not have wanted to go with me.” 

“Peter, I don’t think that’s true. You should’ve seen her face when Harry asked her. She’s not excited about it.” 

But Peter barely heard Ned’s comment as the two of them walked into the Parker’s apartment and greeted Aunt May.

* * *

Friday morning, Happy dropped you off in Midtown’s bus parking lot. He wished you good luck and helped you hoist your suitcase into the space below the bus before driving off, leaving you to tackle your first school trip. 

You sat down next to MJ and the bus left the parking lot shortly after. Once on the freeway, Liz, the team’s captain, stood up and read out some easy practice questions to warm up the team. The questions started getting trickier and trickier, though you were able to answer all of them and even raised your hand on a few. 

Peter was having a hard time getting you out of his head when you kept answering questions perfectly. You weren’t even doing it that often – every ten or even twenty questions – but he could tell you knew the answers to all of them and were holding back. As you answered yet another question above expectations without even a hint of condescension in your voice, Peter knew he had to think about something else. _I need a distraction,_ he realized. _She doesn’t like me._

His first solution was to fully devote himself to the practice decathlon questions. Liz read the next question and he answered almost immediately, earning a smile from her that caught his eye and set off a lightbulb in his head. _Since I can’t go to homecoming with Y/N and she doesn’t like me back,_ he thought, _I should try and go with someone else. That’ll help me forget about Y/N._ As Liz read the next question, Peter whispered his idea to Ned. 

“Are you stupid?” 

“Wha—no?” Peter tried to justify himself, confused by his friend’s reaction to the idea. “I just think I missed my shot with Y/N.” 

“Dude. You’re what, 16? Chill. It’s one school dance and you really like her. Plus, as I’ve repeatedly reminded you, you told me she came to you when she was upset and asked you to hold her basically all night. That’s not nothing.” 

Peter felt the pain in his heart when he thought back to the tears you shed that night. As he moved through the memory, he warmed as he remembered holding you tight in his arms as you slowly woke up with a smile gracing your lips. Both of you had admitted you wished you could stay like that all day. That didn’t stop the recurring thought from returning to take over his feelings: _but she’s going to the dance with someone else._

“I just…I just have to do this, I think.” 

Ned shook his head as Peter glanced back up at Liz. Having been looking at him already, Liz quickly looked away and to the other students, embarrassed to be caught staring. 

The rest of the bus ride, the hotel study session, and throughout dinner, Peter sat next to Liz. With Ned hanging out with Betty and MJ frequently wandering off to explore, you found yourself surrounded by teammates but also alone. A vibration in your pocket at the dinner table felt like the first interaction you’d have all day, but the name on the screen only deepened your frown. 

**Harry:** How’s the academic thing? 

**You:** It’s fine so far! We’re at dinner 

**Harry:** I still can’t believe they convinced you to go. It’s so lame! 

That conversation turned out to be worse than no conversation. You shoved your phone back into your pocket without a response and looked around the table. You smiled at Ned, who had his chin in one hand as he gushed at Betty telling a story. It always seemed like he liked her, so you were happy he was getting to spend some time with her. Turning to the other side of the table. You glanced up at Peter, who instantly averted his eyes from you. Your shoulders got heavy as you followed his gaze to Liz, who – of course – looked beautiful without even trying. You didn’t mean to stare, but Peter listened to her so intently the remainder of the dinner. Out of the corner of your eye, all you could see was Liz playfully shove Peter, and your heart sank as his cheeks turned rosy. 

Little did you know that slight blush was nothing compared to the warmth he felt when you told him his shoulder was comfy and that you wanted to stay nestled in his arms. 

* * *

That night, after some coding help from Ned, Peter slipped out of the hotel just as everyone else was headed down to the pool. Liz stopped him in the hallway, inviting him to come down and join the group. You had move past him with the rest of your classmates but could still overhear his jumbled excuse of going to study some more. Liz accepted that, of course, but you knew better. Peter was up to something and you had to follow him. 

“Liz, I’m just going to go to the bathroom, so I’ll meet you guys down there!” 

“Ok, Y/N! Hurry or you’ll miss all the fun!” 

With a quick laugh that you hoped didn’t sound as fake as it felt, you turned and snuck down the hallway back after Peter. You knew he’d catch you eventually – he did have spidey senses that had proven to be very in tune to you – but had to give it your best shot. You barely got outside the hotel before he noticed you. 

“Y/N?” 

He hopped down from the outer wall of the hotel he had started to climb. You saw the edge of his suit fitted under his zipped-up hoodie and hood, his hands already covered with the patterned fabric. 

“What are you doing, Peter?” 

“I…exploring?” You furrowed your eyebrows incredulously. “Ok, fine. I…I’m going after some alien tech. I have to follow it because I know something is sketchy about the whole thing. But I’ll be back before the decathlon tomorrow, I swear.” 

“Can’t we just…tell Tony? Er, I’m calling him Dad now. Can’t you tell him? And let the Avengers take care of it?” 

“You can’t tell him!” He burst forward, frantically looking around as if worried Tony was already there. “I’m not supposed to wear my suit outside New York.” 

“Peter!” 

“I know, I know. But I have to follow this lead. I can’t let this guy get away with it.” 

“Then I should come with you,” you suggested. He had been there for you when you needed it. It saddened you how he had hung out with other people throughout the day, but it didn’t erase how much you cared about him. You knew you’d always be there for him, too. 

“Absolutely not.” 

“Why?” 

“Do you have your suit?” 

“Fine,” you slouched, admitting defeat. Tony wasn’t letting you take the suit out of the house yet. “You got me there. But you have to let me help somehow.” 

“Y/N…just let me handle this. I don’t know these guys and this alien tech is pretty insane. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I brought you along _without_ your suit and you got _hurt.”_

You took a deep breath, knowing he was right. It didn’t make it any easier, though. _I convinced the famous Tony Stark to let me come on a mission but can’t convince a 16-year-old boy to let me come along for some recon?_

“Ok. But you have to promise me something,” you blurted, reaching out for his arm as he started to turn to climb back up the hotel. He turned back to face you, looking down at you curiously as if whatever you were about to say was the most important thing anyone would ever tell him. 

“Yeah, anything, Y/N.” 

_“You_ can’t get hurt, either. Because _I_ couldn’t live with _my_ self if I let you go right now and you went off and got hurt. Or worse.” You dropped your hand from his arm and looked down at the ground between you before looking back up at him. “I need you around, Parker.” 

The corners of his mouth twitched as he fought a grin. He couldn’t let himself fall into this. It would only hurt more later. He nodded, grabbing your hand for a quick squeeze before climbing up the side of the building and disappearing over the roof. Once again, you found yourself all alone. 

* * *

The next morning, you still hadn’t heard from Peter. He hadn’t answered any of your texts and didn’t come down for the hotel breakfast with Ned. Though Peter couldn’t keep a secret to save his life, Ned was even worse. The boy radiated suspiciousness from across the lobby. 

“Where’s Peter?” The hushed whisper was coated with urgency as you threw yourself into the seat across from him while he ate. 

“He…uh…just sleeping…in?” 

“Ned, I know he left. I talked to him last night.” 

“Oh, thank goodness, Y/N. I’m the worst at keeping secrets.” 

“No kidding. Where is he?” 

“I don’t know! He hasn’t texted me! What do we do?” Around you, the rest of the team started to get up and gather their bags to head to the competition. You looked back to Ned and shrugged. Peter, meanwhile, was just breaking out of the high-security facility many, many miles away. 

Questions from teammates started to rise the moment Peter didn’t show up to get on the bus. 

“Has anyone seen Peter?” Liz asked. “Ned, you're his roommate. Where is he?” 

Ned stared back at her blankly, mouth gaping open. You pursed your lips and elbowed his side. 

“He’s uh…he’s—” 

“He’s really sick,” you explained, not trusting Ned to come up with something credible. “Throwing up and everything.” 

“How do you know? You weren’t in his room,” Liz countered, of course finding the hole in your story. 

“I…I went to study a little with Ned in their room after we left the pool. I could hear it.” 

“Oh. Ew? Well, that’s not good news for the team, but I hope he feels better.” 

She stepped away from the group. Ned gripped your arm, sighing abruptly. “Phew. She almost had us. We barely made it out of that.” 

_“We?”_

As you boarded the bus ahead of Ned, Liz asked you to come sit by her. Your heart rate quickened, fearful she had seen through your lie. 

“Y/N, with Peter gone, we have to put someone else in for the decathlon.” The reminder that Peter was gone scared you, but you and Ned had completely forgotten about the fact that he was supposed to compete. You had no clue what the team would do now but nodded along anyway. “I didn’t put you in for this competition because you’re new to the team, but you’re brilliant. Like, really smart. So…I know it might be a lot, but I was wondering if you’d be comfortable filling Peter’s spot today? I understand if you don’t, but I really don’t want to put Flash in.” 

You glanced over at Flash, who was trying to start a “PE-NIS PAR-KER” chant that no one joined in on. You looked at Liz and laughed a little at the fact that he was their alternate unless you stepped up. 

“Sure. I’ll do it.” If you were honest with yourself, it didn’t scare you at all. Not nearly as much as the fact that you still hadn’t heard from Peter. 

“Really?” Liz grabbed your hands excitedly. “Thank you so much, Y/N. You’re going to do great, ok?” 

You thanked her, too, and occupied yourself by studying a few last-minute questions with her until the bus pulled up to the competition. There were way more students there than you expected. They roamed all over the facility and you struggled to keep up with your team as you moved through the crowd. 

It eventually was time for your team to compete. Along with Ned, MJ, and Liz, you moved up to the stage as the moderator read out the rules. While the rest of your teammates zoned out and got settled as they had heard this speech a million times, you found yourself giving your full attention. 

“Press the buzzer as soon as you know the answer to the question. There will be 75 questions. Each question is worth 5 points, and whichever team ends with more points is the team that wins. We will now begin the competition. Captains,” she turned to Liz and the team captain on the opposite side of her podium, “are your teams ready?” 

Both captains nodded and the moderator promptly opened the envelope with the first question. 

“Question one. Name the taxonomic rank comes next in the following sequence: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, _blank.”_

_That was an easy one,_ you thought as you pulled your hand back from the buzzer after it lit up. 

“Midtown?” 

You leaned forward into the microphone slightly to answer. “Order.” A bell dinged behind you somewhere almost immediately after you got your answer out. 

“Correct. Five points to Midtown. Midtown leads five to zero.” 

Liz nudged you with a smile on her face, but all you could think about was how the moderator sounded like Dumbledore giving out points at Hogwarts. 

Questions flowed on after that and you found yourself easily answering a majority of them. One boy on the other team was quicker to the button than you on occasion even though you knew the answers immediately. Though you felt like you were answering far more questions, it ended up coming down to the last one. 

“The score is tied: 185 to 185,” the moderator read as she opened the last envelope. “Final Question, number 75. How are gamma rays generated?” 

You literally leapt out of your seat to get to your buzzer as fast as possible and looked around blankly as everyone stared at you. No other students had even started moving toward their buzzers, but you could’ve answered the question in your sleep given all of Bruce’s lessons. No one else knew you worked with the Avengers, of course, so even your teammates weren’t sure about you getting this one. 

“Midtown?” 

“Gamma rays are released from the excited nucleus of a radioactive element when it decays to form its daughter element via isometric transition from a higher energy nuclear state to a lower energy state.” 

You slowly sat back down in your seat – still unsure of why you jumped and stood up in the first place – as the room fell even quieter while judges checked your answer. Liz and Ned on either side of you grabbed your arms tightly, hoping above all else that you were correct. The bell then dinged yet again, and your teammates jumped up with joy as the crowd cheered. 

“Correct! Five points to Midtown. Midtown takes the competition with a score of 190-185!” 

Ned, Liz, and MJ all circled around you in a group hug and the rest of your team darted up on stage to join in. Confetti drifted down from the ceiling while the group broke apart and the chairman of the tournament brought out the trophy. Flash seized it and didn’t hesitate to start posing for pictures. 

After changing out of your uniform and brushing confetti out of your hair, you dug your phone out of your backpack to find two messages from Peter. He was on his way, thankfully, and would tell you what happened when he got there. Another text followed a few minutes later (after Liz had sent the tournament lineup to the group text, you noticed) where he wished you luck and reminded you you’d do great. Skipping the second text, you relayed his update to Ned as the team boarded the bus to go visit the Washington Monument as a post-victory treat. 

Still a way away, the realization dawned on Peter that the alien tech was like a bomb if it endured any radiation. He frantically tried calling you and Ned. You were passing through security, but Ned was behind you in line and able to answer. Liz saw him speaking to Peter and snagged the phone, harping on him for ditching before Peter got a chance to warn Ned. The phone then went through the scanner (along with the now-bomb) and Ned hung up after telling Peter to hurry up and meet them at the monument. 

You rode up the slow elevator with Ned, Liz, Betty, and Flash. It was a little dark and creepy, you had to admit, but it _was_ built centuries ago. Plus, it was an amazing experience to see such a landmark in real life. 

The rumbles of the elevator climbing didn’t stop you from hearing what sounded like something fizzing coming from Ned’s backpack. Glancing over to him, your eyes were drawn to a purple light shining out of his backpack and reflecting off the walls of the elevator cabin. The hissing sound only got louder as the light brightened over the next couple of seconds. You moved toward Ned to ask him what it was but only took a step before a monstrous boom and burst of light slammed you into the wall behind you. The whole lift rattled and stopped moving upwards, instead starting to tick down slowly but surely. Opening your eyes, you squinted to peer through the smoke. Everyone was on the ground like you and awake, covering their noses so as to avoid breathing in the toxic air. The smoke drifted up, and you immediately noticed the whole top of the elevator had been blown off and all the lights were off, leaving it nearly pitch black. As you looked up above, the sound of shattering glass was immediately followed by a flash of red and trickles of glass falling from overhead. 

After finally breaking through the glass, Peter was immediately directed to the now-starting-to-slide-down-out-of-control-elevator by bystanders already safe up top. He shot a few webs down to the elevator and used the pulleys to start hauling it back up. When he raised the cabin up high enough, people nearby helped pull Ned, Betty, and Flash up, moving down to grab you or Liz next. 

Before they got a chance, the pulley system completely snapped and the elevator with you and Liz went crashing down. While Karen alerted Peter of how deadly this fall would be for you and Liz, he shot one web up behind him to anchor himself as he jumped down after you. 

Thinking quickly and wishing more than anything that you had brought your suit, you made a plan just as you saw Peter aiming to shoot a web down into the elevator. Knowing he only had one hand to send a web down and probably wouldn’t act quickly enough to use the splitter web you installed, you decided to take action for yourself. You faced the wall of the elevator and climbed up the inside wall as the elevator continued falling beneath you. In a moment of courage, you stood on the handrail in the elevator cabin and stood up, head going through the space where the top of the elevator had blown off. 

Peter cried out your name as you reached out for one of the beams supporting the elevator shaft structure, hanging on to the bar as the elevator dropped out from beneath your feet. His voice echoed down the elevator shaft loudly enough for your still-ringing ears to hear it. The elevator fell further below you as it dropped with Liz still shrieking inside until Peter caught her with a web that wrapped around her waist. 

You swung your feet around for a place to balance them and support your hands. Once stable, you turned around to see Peter’s web reeling Liz up to the top. Only a second later, the elevator collided with the ground below and shook the whole monument again, weakening your grip on the bars. You held tight, however, as dust rose up, and started your climb of about 50 feet to the top of the monument. 

“Y/N, I’m going to shoot a web down and pull you up, ok?” Peter alerted you as you reached about the halfway point of your ascent. Your arms ached, the smoke making it hard to breathe and keep going. Still, for a reason you hadn’t put your finger on yet, the whole situation wasn’t sitting right with you. It wasn’t even the fact that you almost died – something else was bothering you. 

“I don’t know how you know my name, Mr. Spider, but I can do this myself, thank you very mu—woah!” 

Peter had fired a web down at you anyway. He hoisted you up as you pretended to pout while your eyes watered slightly, though you were unsure of where this bitterness came from. Nevertheless, you found yourself fighting to keep whatever these emotions were down. You reached the top and he wrapped his hands around your arms to pull you the rest of the way up as you struggled to climb out on your own. Your foot slipped and he wrapped his arms around you tighter to lift you out. He faced you once your feet were on the ground, the suit’s eyes widening as he noticed the glossy sheen covering your eyes. 

“Y/N—I mean, miss—are you ok?” His hands stayed on your sides as he seemed to check you over. He paused at your arm, taking a closer look. “You’re bleeding, we need to get this fixed up.” 

You stared back as long as you could before a realization dawned on you. Pulling back and away from him, you bolted for the stairs. You flew down the steps, skipping stairs and ignoring the pain in your legs, needing to get away from your thoughts. The pieces were clicking together in your mind: _Peter saved Liz instead of me._

Many, many minutes later you reached the bottom of the tower and flew through the emergency exit door. You breathed in the fresh air as much as your lungs would let you while coughing out more dust and smoke than you realized you had breathed in. You backed up against the rear side of the monument, head falling in your hands as you slumped down the wall until you were sitting on the ground. Tears weren’t falling, probably because the whole thing had been a bit of a shock, but it didn’t mean the feelings you were feeling were good. Your mind alternated between “I almost died” and “Peter doesn’t like me,” and you were surprised by which one seemed to be more upsetting. 

Your phone buzzed a few times in your pocket, but you ignored it without even checking the caller. The buzzing started again but again your found yourself unable to answer it. _It’s probably my team trying to get me back to the bus,_ you realized, and stood up to head that way so you wouldn’t be left alone again. You hadn’t been on the team long but already had an understanding that Mr. Harrington had no clue what was happening…ever. 

You were only 20 steps away from the bus when a hand latched onto yours from behind and pulled you to a stop. It then tugged on you such that you turned to face none other than Peter, now out of his suit and dressed in normal school clothes. He stared at you just like he had when he pulled you out of the elevator less than an hour ago, eyebrows pointing up in the middle and eyes laced with concern. He waged an internal battle between his concern for you and wanting to let go but found himself stepping in to hug you without a second thought. 

He wrapped his arms around your motionless body for a moment before he shifted and held his head against yours, his eyes pressing closed. You bit your lip as the weight of what could’ve happened washed over you and finally reciprocated his hug. 

“I almost lost you,” he breathed into your ear. His words made your breath hitch and you squeezed him tighter, feeling safe for the first time since the explosion. Both of you pulled away slowly, almost hesitantly. He slid his arm from around your back and down your arm, grabbing your hand and turning your arm around to see the cut he found earlier. It wasn’t terrible but was still quite a gash. He looked up from it to your tired eyes cast downward. “I’ll get this fixed up on the bus, ok?” 

“Hey…guys? Can we go please?” 

You turned back around to see Mr. Harrington sticking his head out from the bus door, waving for you to head over. You nodded to Peter before he walked you back to the bus, hand moving from your hand to your back. 

As you boarded the bus, you walked to your same seat for Peter to follow. Liz beckoned for Peter to sit with her, however, asking if he was feeling better and how he got there. He looked at you and you nodded, encouraging him to sit there. He watched you move toward the back and sit down, your eyes still tired and drifting out the window. It hurt, he had to admit, and he wanted to be there. But besides the normal friend stuff like giving you a hug when you almost died – he had to laugh at the thought that that was “normal” – everything seemed blurry. 

The ride to New York flew by and you were back at Midtown before you knew it. Happy was already there, of course – he, Tony, and Pepper had all called numerous times throughout the ride to make sure you were ok. 

He ran over to you and checked you over as Peter had, obviously spotting the same cut. He whisked you away to the car and sat you down, telling to wait and rest while he got your bag. Peter walked up to your window and knocked as Happy loaded your suitcase. You pressed the button and the window rolled down slowly. Peter rested his forearms on the car as soon as the window disappeared into the door. 

“You sure you’re ok?” 

“No. Are you? You did all the work,” you teased, poking his arm, though the tension on his face didn’t fade like usual. 

“Not to interrupt,” Happy inserted from the front seat, “but Tony is freaking out so I kind of need to get you home ASAP or he might cut my head off.” You and Peter sighed, looking back at each other as Happy turned on the car. 

“Text me later?” 

Peter nodded, stepping away from the car and waving as you rolled the window up and drove off. Happy fired question after question at you throughout the drive, as did Tony and Pepper and everyone else at the compound when you got home. Tony made the decision he was going to finish the final touches on your suit and – though it would only be for emergencies – never let you leave without it again. “Just in case,” he reasoned. Finally, they ushered you to bed to rest and recover, planning to get you fully checked out the following day. 

**Peter:** Texting you later, as promised 

**You:** Thank you. Are you ok? 

**Peter:** I don’t know yet. I save people all the time but that was…different 

**You:** How come? 

**Peter:** I mean, it was kind of my fault? Ned said he told you about the stone, and it was my fault he had it at all. If I hadn’t brought him into this, no one would’ve been hurt. 

**You:** I’m barely scratched and no one else was hurt. Plus, in the grand scheme of things, you are going to stop whatever the alien tech guys are doing, and that’s going to help people even more. 

**Peter:** It was my friends this time. And them knowing me almost got them killed. It almost got you killed. 

**You:** But it didn’t. You saved us!! 

**Peter:** Only because of you! If you hadn’t climbed up, which I’ll admit scared me, Liz would’ve died 

**You:** But Liz was safe? You caught her with your web? 

**Peter:** I was aiming at you until I figured out your plan 

**Peter:** Doesn’t mean I liked your plan, but Karen reminded me Liz was still falling, and I had to do something 

**You:** I was so mean to you when you pulled me up. I’m so sorry. 

**You:** Everyone is ok and so thankful you were there. Please don’t beat yourself up. I’m thankful you were there. 

**Peter:** Wait. You weren’t mean to me at the top. I just thought you were in shock. What are you talking about? 

**You:** Oh I just felt bad running off I guess 

**Peter:** Did you think I saved Liz instead of you? 

**You:** No! I mean…kinda? I don’t know. It all happened so fast 

Peter took a deep breath before typing his thoughts and pressing send, panicking as soon as the screen told him the message had been delivered. His words were the truth but sharing them scared him and put you in a weird spot. That said, he had to tell you. 

**Peter:** Exactly. It was fast. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I barely knew you were falling before I had my web shooter already aimed at you. I didn’t think twice. That’s part of why I’m stressed right now…I’ve never been forced to choose between people to save before. In that moment, I didn’t even see another option. 

**You:** But Liz is ok. You didn’t lose her. 

**Peter:** The problem is that I didn’t even make a plan to save her. It was just you. 

**You:** I’m sure if I hadn’t climbed out would’ve saved her, Peter. The last thing I want to do is get in between you two. You saved her and I guarantee she’s thankful. 

Peter groaned as you clearly were not picking up on his hints. He thought they were obvious and was already nervous, but realized he’d have to be more direct. While typing out his message, the screen darkened before the named “Tony Stark” read across the top. He slid his thumb across the screen to answer the call. 

“Kid? What was Spider-Man doing in DC?” 

“I, Mr. Stark, it was an emergency—” 

“Nuh-uh. No excuses. You helped, sure. But it’s not ok. You shouldn’t have had the alien tech with you on a SCHOOL FIELD TRIP in the first place.” 

“You’re right, Mr. Stark, I’m so sorry--” 

“Good. Suit comes back to the compound tomorrow.” 

“Wait, what?” 

“You heard me. The suit is for patrols, not climbing up the Washington Monument. You’re going to return it. Tomorrow.” 

“I…I was only trying to save people, like you—” 

“And I wanted you to be better. Goodnight, Parker.” 

Any courage Peter had a moment ago to be more direct in his text to you dissipated with the suit being taken away. He deleted what he had written so far, quickly typing something new before plugging his phone in on his nightstand and rolling over to go to bed. 

**Peter:** You’re right, thanks. I have to go to bed. Night, Y/N. 

**Peter:** I’m glad you’re ok. 

You frowned at his response initially; something was up that he wasn’t telling you about. You’d figure it out eventually, but for now you had enough problems of your own to solve. Before you could start even the first one, however, the many events of the day exhausted you. Sleep washed over you within minutes and the world faded to black. 


	12. Spider-Man Just Stole My Car!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homecoming takes a minor (major) twist when Peter bolts and you find yourself chasing after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More following Spider-Man: Homecoming. But a little altered, of course. Sorry this is so late…I got a puppy this week and she’s amazing but occupies a lot of my time!! If it makes up for it at all, her name is Friday after Tony’s AI ☺ HEHE anyway…enough about my pup. This was super fun to write and I hope you have fun reading it! As always, I love each and every comment and hope you enjoy this chapter!!!

From the check-in table, you could just barely see through the doors and into Midtown’s dimly-lit gym. Countless strings of fairy lights hung around the walls; their light reflected off the disco ball hanging in the center to sparkle all around the room. The far side of the gym had a big table set up where a DJ stood with large speakers thumping on either side. Between the you and the DJ was a dance floor filled with energetic students jumping up and down, surrounded by other students and chaperones seated at the tables around the perimeter.

“Y/N, come on, we have to get our picture taken!”

Harry pulled you from the check-in table down the hall toward the backdrop and photographer. You found yourself positioned in his arm, your hand on his chest. Harry had been a gentleman so far – he was kind, conversational, and even treated you to dinner – but it didn’t make you immune to the prick of discomfort you felt standing there next to him. As you smiled for the picture, you couldn’t help but think back to the gala when Tony positioned you and Peter in this exact way. His arm had been around you, tentative to make sure you were comfortable but then supportive and reassuring, and you felt his heart pounding in his warm chest. Instead of discomfort you sensed with Harry, standing close to Peter left you somehow giddy and content at the same time.

The camera clicked a few times before you walked into the gym with Harry. The music got louder the closer you got to the front, and you barely heard him when he told you he was going to say hi to his friends and would be right back. Rather than standing alone, you wandered off in search of your own friends.

Luckily for you, they stuck out a little from the crazy students in the center. They sat off to the side at a table, talking and laughing with their dates. Well, Ned did, at least, with Betty. MJ chose not to bring a date, which she explained to you was a “rebellion against the patriarchy.” You supported her so much so that you admitted you would’ve rather done the same. Especially given that Peter asked Liz to the dance, though they apparently hadn’t arrived yet.

“Y/N!” Ned burst, jumping up and fumbling around the table to greet you with a big bear hug. “You look awesome! Where’s Harry?”

“Thanks, Ned. He wanted to say hi to his friends. I thought I’d get away for a bit to say hi to mine!”

MJ pulled out a chair for you and tapped on the seat for you to sit down. You happily joined them as the conversation flowed easily amongst the group. Betty fit in well, too, and the two of you quickly became better friends. Eventually, the group got onto talking about the previous weekend’s decathlon trip and all the strange things that unfolded, though it was a little strange being secretive about Peter’s abilities with Betty being there.

“Where is Peter, anyway?” Ned asked. “I see Liz over there talking to her friends.”

You turned around and there stood Liz, somehow even prettier than usual. Your chest tightened as MJ noticed him walking in the doors and you saw him, eyes wide as ever and glassed over, staring intently at Liz as if there was nothing else to see.

“What a dork,” MJ teased, resuming conversation with Ned and Betty. You watched Peter, however, and observed as his expression never faltered as he approached his date. He tapped on Liz’s shoulder and she turned, face promptly lighting up. She gestured toward the dance floor, but you could see his Adam’s apple bob as he gulped and distractedly muttered something back. They were too far away from you to be able to hear exactly what he said, but Liz’s face crunched up in response. Peter kept mumbling and eventually bolted out of the gym altogether, his eyes catching yours and making him pause for just a moment as he fled.

Liz stood near the center of the gym looking confused as ever. Hesitating only a moment, you walked over to her, and she put on the best smile she could as she saw you.

“Liz…where did Peter just run off to?” 

“I don’t know,” she grumbled, radiating disappointment but forcing it down. “He just kept apologizing, saying he’s ‘so sorry,’ but he wouldn’t say what for.”

Ned noted your absence from the table as he pulled his buzzing phone out of his pocket.

“Peter? What are you doing? Where did you go?”

“Ned, I need you to listen. It’s a spidey thing. You can’t let Y/N follow me. Please make sure she stays and has a normal night, ok?”

Ned covered his mouth to whisper despite the music drowning out everything he said. “Why would she follow you on a spidey thing?”

“Mr. Stark gave her a suit to keep at all times for emergencies, remember? Just— _oof_ —please keep her at school!”

“Ok, ok. I will. I’ll protect your crush for you.”

“And Ned? Wait, HEY! I don’t have time for this - can you look something up for me? I’m a little desperate— _ouch!_ ”

“Yes, Peter – what’s going on?”

“I borrowed Flash’s car and need you to look up how I turn the headlights on!”

“Come  _on,_ Peter, I’m with Betty!”

“Guy in the chair, Ned! _Please!_ Guy in the chair!”

“Ugh, no! Don’t tempt me with that!” 

“Ned, Spider-Man needs _you_ to be his guy in the chair. _Please!”_

“Fine! One minute.”

You sat back down at the table as Ned hung up. Before you could ask him who he was talking to, Flash burst into the gym with his date close behind. He practically skipped around the gym, already shouting about something.

“SPIDER-MAN JUST STOLE _MY_ CAR TO GO CHASE A CRIMINAL!”

Your eyes shot open and you jumped out of your chair. Ned’s hand on your arm caught you as you tried to surge forward.

“Ned,  _let go!”_

“Where are you going?”

“The...the bathroom.”

“The bathroom is the other way.”

You jerked your shoulder, shrugging his hand off you and pouting. “I’m going after Peter.”

“Y/N, no. You can’t.”

“Why?! Ned, he’s going to get hurt!” You thought about Tony taking his suit away after everything went down in D.C. and realized he only had his homemade suit. Tony’s spandex suit didn’t offer a ton of protection but compared to the footie pajamas he wore before…it was a step up. “Ned, I have to go. I don’t know why you don’t think I can. If something happened to Peter…I _have_ to go.”

“You _like_ Peter, don’t you?”

“I-what?”

“I KNEW IT!” He all but jumped with joy. “Peter’s going to be so relieved you like him, too.”

“I have to—wait, what?”

“N-nothing! Go help Peter!”

Ned muttered something about true love as you ran over to Harry and explained that you had to go because of an emergency. His face fell and he tried to bargain for you to stay, but you were already running from the scene.

Following Peter’s footsteps and bolting out the doors to the gym, you slipped off your shoes as you ran down the hallway. You stopped after getting outside and tapped the bracelet twice on the inside of your wrist, right where you’d take a pulse. Tony’s nanotech quickly spread out from that point, moving up your arm, to your shoulder, and eventually covering your whole body.

Finally, the mask clicked into place, and you initiated thrusters before rising into the air. 

“FRIDAY, can you find Peter?”

“No. Without his suit, we don’t have a tracker on him.”

“Can you find Flash’s car, then? If you look at street cameras or something? License plate is ‘FLASHDRV.’” You never thought you’d need to remember his license plate all those times Flash pulled up to school and bragged about his car. You also realized searching street cameras was probably illegal, but that was a suit function you’d have to ask Tony about later.

“I’ve traced his car to the location marked on your heads-up display, but you’ll have to look for Peter from there.”

It wasn’t hard to find the car after you reached the last known street camera. It was turned over and on fire just off the road. Peter, however, was nowhere to be found. Not seeing him with your own eyes, you turned on the body heat sensor and scanned your environment.

Next to where the car lay flipped over was a large, concrete warehouse with two clear heat signatures. It had to be Peter and the criminal he was after you determined, so you quickly searched for a door to get in. Just as you moved around a corner to scan the next wall, deafening cracks filled your hearing, followed by visible cracks above your head. Igniting your thrusters, you lifted yourself up into the air to dodge the now-crumbling structure and to get a better view.

One of the heat signatures flew up into the air and away just as the building began to completely cave in on itself. The ceiling fell down, completely crumbling and destroying all internal structure. Part of you wanted to go after the criminal – clearly the heat signature with wings now flying away – but the larger part of you knew that meant Peter was the other signature now buried.

FRIDAY alerted you to your quickening heart rate as you dove down toward what you assumed to be Peter. You screamed his name, ignoring FRIDAY’s alerts saying you were going to the ground too quickly. Your knees ached with the impact to the rocks, but the adrenaline allowed you to move past it. A voice carried up from below some of the rubble, which had suddenly started moving underneath you.

You rose into the air just slightly to allow the debris to move. The concrete slowly climbed up from under your hovering thrusters and you dropped down to see underneath it. As you touched down to the ground, Peter stood out from underneath the concrete rubble, straining to push it higher overhead so he could step forward and allow it to crash down behind him. The helmet of your suit compacted itself to reveal a few tears rolling down your hot cheeks as you closed the distance between you and him.

You ran into him hard enough that he would have lost his balance had you not had your iron suit to hold your ground and hold him tightly. It took him a second to refocus himself, but he relaxed into you and pressed his eyes shut. Hugging the iron suit wasn’t like a regular hug, Peter noticed, but it was still _you._ A flash in the sky from the Vulture’s suit broke the two of you apart as you both looked to see what was going on.

“I have to get him.”

“What mission is this, Peter? I don’t remember you having one.”

“It’s…it’s not a mission. I’ve been telling Happy about this guy, but no one is taking me seriously.”

“So, you’ve been recklessly going after him yourself? Is this why Ned had the stone in D.C.?”

“Yes. He’s getting away – can I tell you the rest later?”

“Peter, you almost got crushed by a building!”

“Y/N,” he reached out and rested his hand on your cheek, a couple tears brimming in his own eyes. “I have to go.”

“I’m coming with you.” You reached up and grabbed his hand from your cheek to hold it tightly.

“No! You could get hurt!”

“And you? You could get hurt too, you know!” 

He sighed, the slightest of smiles creeping up on his face. “We’re going to have to get over this ‘getting hurt’ thing, aren’t we?”

“Yes! Let’s go!”

He grinned at your excitement and the fire in your eyes. He grabbed his mask from the ground and pulled it on before shooting a web up at a nearby billboard and then at the Vulture’s wings. Your helmet slid back on over your forehead and face until it clicked into place. You quickly shot up into the sky, trailing behind Peter and the Vulture in case Peter’s web didn’t hold up. You knew it would hold, but it couldn’t hurt to be his back-up.

The Vulture eventually latched onto a plane in the sky that had previously been mostly invisible to the naked eye. It dawned on you that, given the retro-reflective panels, this was one of Tony’s planes and that it must’ve been the one going from the tower he recently moved out of to the compound. First the Vulture hurt Peter and now he was going after Tony? Now you were _really_ going to get this guy.

You hung back with Peter, who was still attached to the Vulture with a web. It looked like Vulture separated from his suit and climbed up into the plane somehow, though you weren’t sure how an opening spontaneously formed on the bottom of the plane in the first place. With the Vulture out of sight, you and Peter crept up closer to the mysterious opening.

The corners of the hole glowed the same purple as Ned’s backpack in D.C. The Vulture was nowhere to be seen as Peter peaked up through the hole, but he quickly slipped out and tried to pry the Vulture’s suit off the plane where it had attached to the bottom.

Before either of you had time to react, the plane quickly darted side-to-side and up and down. Peter lost his grip but shot webs to stay attached to the best of his ability. Trusting his abilities but fearing the consequences of a minor slip-up, you dropped down underneath him to be there in case he fell.

FRIDAY alerted you to the cameras through which the Vulture was probably seeing you both. Inside your helmet, Tony’s face popped up on the display alongside the words “Incoming Call.” Peter swung up on top of the plane as you answered.

“Hey, kiddo. Dance going ok?”

“Uh, yeah! Great! All good!”

“Why does it sound like you’re in a car? Where are you? You should’ve arrived at the dance a while ago, right? FRIDAY, where is she?”

“She is currently flying south from Queens toward the Atlantic.”

“ _FLYING?_ Y/N, what in the name of—”

While you turned the helmet’s speakers down to shield yourself from Tony’s yelling, the Vulture came back out of the plane and was now fighting Peter. You flew in their direction as the Vulture knocked out an engine and a train of smoke followed the plane.

“PETER!”

He swung around the plane and nearly into the dead engine as the plane began dropping toward the ground. With the Vulture distracted and fighting to not be ground up by the engine on the functional side of the plane, FRIDAY alerted you to the changing trajectory of the plane. The non-functional engine caused the plane to lose control; at this rate it looked like it would crash directly into the Ferris wheel on Coney Island.

You flew around to Peter and pulled him away from the damaged engine. You kept the Vulture away as Peter then shot a web at the plane wing on the side of the functional engine, pulling it up to counter the power of the engine itself. You could see the physics at work as the nose of the plane tipped away from the island and back toward the water, but it wasn’t going fast enough for how quickly the plane was falling out of the sky.

“Y/N? I’m still here! What’s going on?”

“Hi, uh, Dad! Just steering your plane! Gotta go!”

_“What did you just say?”_

The plane continued dropping dangerously close to the ground as FRIDAY hung up the call. When you first got to the plane, it was at an altitude of about 10,000 ft; now you were around 2,000 feet and falling faster and faster. Peter pulled as hard as he could – grunting with the effort – as you kept the Vulture at bay.

1,500 feet…1,000 feet…the altimeter on your heads-up display began flashing with the rate you were falling. The plane skated over a few tall buildings, nearly scraping its belly on the tallest ones. 500 feet…400 feet…

You aimed another blast at the Vulture; he fell onto his back as your altimeter counted down from 100 feet. With a jolt, the plane touched down on the surface of the empty beach, throwing all of you off balance and leaving you to hang on to whatever your hands could find to grip. As soon as you could, you used your thrusters to get up in the air and away from the bouncing plane that fell apart more and more every second. In the crash, you lost sight of Peter and the Vulture, leaving you filled with fear as the plane finally slowed.

You caught up with the stopped plane as quickly as possible and did your best to maneuver around the fires sparking in the piles of wreckage. The thermal scan did nothing to help you find Peter this time as everything seemed to be overheating. Thinking quickly, you switched to scan for traces of water, and found him thrown just in front of the plane’s nose.

You were in the air and jetting toward him the instant you identified him on your display. Your iron boots touched down beside him on the ground where he lay seemingly unconscious and covered in oil, dirt, and sand.

“Peter?” You shook him slightly and the nanotech mask slid off your face. “FRIDAY, run vitals. _PETER?”_ His eyes blinked open slowly and he shook his head as one would casually shake dirt out of their hair. You sighed with the sign of consciousness and put one hand on each of his cheeks to hold him as he tried to sit up. “Peter, you’re ok—”

“Y/N, I—”

“Hey there, Pedro.” The Vulture flew up behind the two of you and touched down on the ground. Your mask grew back over your head and face and you stood to face him, suit producing a shield to protect Peter from the alien weapon the Vulture aimed at the pair of you. “It’s over, kids.”

You flew toward him without a second thought and Peter rolled out of the line of fire. Colliding with the Vulture, you both went reeling back in the air. One of his wings malfunctioned and he fell to the ground, though he quickly bounced up onto his feet and steadied his weapon. Before you could right yourself from the impact – you hadn’t practiced that with Tony yet – he blasted you, disabling your suit and leaving you to fall from the sky as dead weight.

_“Y/N!”_

Peter screamed as you plummeted and smashed into the ground with a deafening thud. The Vulture grinned as the cry alerted him to Peter’s location. He flew after Peter, who somersaulted around to dodge subsequent blasts. Peter held out his arm to fire a web, but the shooter faltered with the lack of remaining web fluid. He had more on his belt, but there wasn’t time. Improvising, he climbed and then jumped off the remaining frame of the plane and onto the Vulture’s back, pulling him down to the ground by twisting one of the wings with all his might. The Vulture aimed a blaster back at Peter and Peter swung out of the way, but still caught the edge of it as it burnt his arm. The Vulture then spun around so his own back – which Peter still held – faced the ground and slammed his body down to the sand with Peter underneath him.

Peter felt the wind knocked out of him on impact and fought to breathe. The Vulture stood up, nonchalant as ever, and strolled over to a broken crate of arc reactors that had tumbled out of the plane’s cargo hold. He grabbed a couple as Peter writhed on the ground, fighting the pain throughout his body as he tried to get up.

“Told you it was over, Pedro.” The Vulture began backing up as his suit lifted him off the ground and over one of the many fires raging on the beach.

“No, don’t—your suit—it’s a bomb—”

The Vulture ignored Peter’s warnings and lifted himself higher into the air, unaware that his suit was about to blow. Before he could figure out why his suit started sparking, it exploded, adding even more fuel to the growing fires and dropping him to the ground.

Adrenaline coursed through Peter as he stood and limped over to where the Vulture had fallen, knowing the gas in his suit would soon ignite. He covered his mouth and nose with what was left of his hoodie and dragged the Vulture to a safe part of the beach, webbing him up to a crate before he woke up.

Threat gone, his mind flashed to you, picturing you crash to the ground. His spidey sense pulled him back toward the wreckage, where he spotted the glint of your suit. He sprinted toward you as the breath left his lungs once again, heart sinking with your lack of motion. He flung himself to the ground by your side, pressing the arc reactor on your chest twice to get the disabled suit out of the way.

“Y/N…Y/N,  _please_ … _please_ wake up,” he whined, tears falling off his cheeks and into the sand. He scooped up and cradled your head in his arms, flooded with relief when he at least felt a pulse. “Y/N, can you hear me? Please, _Y/N_ —”

“Peter,” you coughed as feeling flooded back through your body. You struggled to fully come back to consciousness, partly limited by half-lidded eyes refusing to open any further. Even that seemed like too much input, however, and you squinted to keep out the sudden flood of light. A wave of disorientation shook your body. Your suit was gone, and instead you wore your shredded homecoming dress as you lay in the sand. Wild fires surged around you along with the remnants of the plane, ejected crates, and a webbed-up Vulture.

Peter placed his hand on your cheek and tilted your head up to face him. His brown eyes glowed with the reflection of the fires but locked on you. The corners of his lips tilted upwards as you looked up at him.

“You’re ok,” Peter whispered down to you, stroking his hand from your forehead and down along your jawline. “You’re _ok_.”

“I’m ok? Are _you_ ok? You’re the one who fell out of the sky!”

He broke out into a smile and chuckled. His head rolling forward as he relaxed, relieved that you were clearly feeling better already. “I’m pretty sure you fell out of the sky, too.”

The suit bracelet on your wrist, now powered back up, flashed to alert you of another incoming call from Tony.

“Hi, Dad." 

“ _’Hi, Dad?’_ That’s all you have to say. _‘Hi, Dad?’_ You were falling out of the sky a few minutes ago. I’m on my way to your suit’s location. What’s going on? What happened? Are you ok? Is—”

“Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. We’re ok.”

“ _WE?”_

“Hi, Mr. Stark,” Peter piped up. “It’s Peter. Parker.”

“Oh, god, you’re there too? Of all the kids for me to recruit...I pick two rebels. You’re fine? You swear?”

“We swear!”

“Mr. Stark? It’s Peter. It might not be best to pick us up here. It’s a little…on fire?”

“I’m sorry, did you say _on fire?”_

“Listen, Dad. We’re fine. I’ll have FRIDAY send you a location a few blocks away, ok? That way we don’t draw attention.”

“Fine. See you in a minute. Don’t do any more stupid things. I’m begging you.”

You hung up the call and inhaled deeply, leaning into Peter. He still held your upper body against him, almost bridal style, and you rested your head against his shoulder to settle for a moment before you had to move.

“Forget about my daughter already, huh, Pedro?”

“I think she’ll be a little more upset about you getting arrested, Sir.”

You giggled at Peter while he wrote a note and pinned it to one of the crates above the Vulture, explaining to you that Happy would get a kick out of it. He helped you up, steadying you as your legs wobbled underneath you, and you once again tapped your wrist to put on the suit. Once it was on, it was your turn to hold Peter close, and the two of you flew to the spot where Tony was to pick you up.

Tony all but leapt out of his car when he pulled up to the curb. He gawked at your faces, covered in dried blood and clumped sand and shiny from the heat of the flames. He pulled you tight into a hug, laughing a little at the state of your dress that revealed itself when the suit came off. He then hugged Peter, even, remarking about how horrible the durability of his “suit” was. Peter’s footie pajamas were shredded as well, the blue and red fabric spotted black with ash. Finally, Tony loaded the two of you into the car, asking question after question until he had every detail about everything that happened.

“Y/N was great, Mr. Stark. It was all my fault. She saved me.”

“No. Peter was the hero. I just followed and got in the way.”

“No way—”

“Both of you! Shut up! You aren’t a married couple - yet - so stop bickering like one. I’m not mad at either of you. I’m not particularly happy, but you’re both ok and your secret mission was a success. I’m going to let this blatant disregard for the rules slide.”

You lightly punched Peter’s shoulder and grinned, raising your eyebrows enthusiastically. “Thank you, Mr. Stark,” he chimed in, eyes lighting up and mouth grinning with the almost-praise.

“I think we should get you both back to the compound, though. Yeah. Get you checked out.”

“Yes, please. I’d like to go _home_.”

You answered even more questions from Tony as he drove, taking every opportunity you could to brag about Peter. Tony dropped you off in the lab and darted off to wake Bruce, who appeared moments later rubbing his eyes and wearing a large t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms. He evaluated both you and Peter – finding a couple broken ribs, lots of bruises, a couple fractures, and many cuts on each of you – before giving you each a painkiller and sending you to bed. You only had a few seconds on consciousness to text answer Ned’s and MJ’s questions in the group chat before your head hit the pillow and you fell instantly to sleep.

The following day, you slept until nearly midday before Tony knocked on your door and slipped in, some secret he was clearly excited about threatening to jump out of him.

“Morning, kiddo. Sleep ok?”

“Deep. What’s got you all jittery?”

“I want to make an Avengers announcement today. Give Peter the Iron Spider suit and make him an Avenger, and also announce you as an Avenger-in-training. And Pepper’s and my adopted daughter. If you’re willing.”

“ _Willing?_ To be publicly known as the daughter of you and Pepper? And to be considered an Avenger-in-training? Are you joking?”

“You don’t want to?” he snickered and winked, pushing you back down to from your sitting-up position back down to your pillows.

“When is this announcement happening?”

“Reporters are starting to show up, but you have a little time to eat breakfast – lunch? – and get dressed. I’m also pretty good at stalling if needed.”

You whipped around your room to shower and throw some clothes on, still feeling grimy from the previous night. Tony made you come sit down to eat, so you scarfed down some breakfast before Tony lead you down to the press room.

Peter stood outside looking much fresher than you did and dressed like he was headed to school. Tony broke apart from you for a minute to talk to Peter, and you could see him gesturing toward the wall by the press room that opened up to reveal the Iron Spider suit you helped him with. _Though to say I helped him with it is generous_ , you chuckled – it was more of a “watched him work” situation.

“You…you want me to be an Avenger?” Peter sputtered as Tony tossed out the idea. Peter glanced back to where you stood off to the side, looking through the window at the sprawling compound. “I…I think I’d rather stay local for now. You know, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

Though shocked, Tony accepted his decision and gave you a five-minute warning before the press would be ready for the announcement. Pepper stormed out to grab Tony, dragging him in to talk. You moved to follow, standing right outside the door to the media room.

“Y/N, wait,” Peter said, catching you on the shoulder in your last few minutes. “I’m sorry you didn’t get the homecoming you deserved.”

“What? First of all, it wasn’t your fault. And second of all, I had a blast!”

“You did? Fighting and blacking out and stuff?

“Absolutely!” You pushed his shoulder teasingly, trying to ease the tension pouring out of him. “Getting to fight and black out and stuff by your side was a million times better than that dance was shaping up to be.”

“Not if I had gone with you,” he whispered to himself, forgetting how close you were.

“I wish.”

He nearly jumped when you spoke with the realization that you heard him. “You…you wish?”

“Yeah,” you muttered slowly, battling the growing urge to run away. “I wish I could’ve gone with _you_. To homecoming.” Peter blushed furiously, embarrassment that you heard him fading as his cheeks rounded into a grin. You felt your own face and neck heating up at his reaction, mortified you had actually replied out loud.

The door swung open behind you and Tony peeked through. “Hey, Y/N, they’re ready – oh, I don’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s ok.” You smiled at Tony before turning back to Peter.

“Good luck, Y/N. I—”

You stepped forward and put your hand on his shoulder, feeling it tighten in your palm. With a deep breath, you stood on your tip-toes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Leaning back down, you peeked at his eyes, now wide as saucers. His jaw fell open slightly and he fought down a smile while his face completely flushed. You didn’t feel any different, however, and wiped away a drop of sweat trickling down the back of your neck as you smiled and backed up toward Tony. Biting your lip to contain an even wider grin, you turned around and slipped through the door Tony held open.

Peter had yet to react; he stood completely in shock and immobile. He stared at the door through which you disappeared where Tony’s head still stuck out, though now Tony had transitioned from simply proud to utterly thrilled. He stuck his hands out and gave Peter a double thumbs up and obvious wink before stepping back into the media room and closing the door.

It took a few minutes for Peter to shake off this feeling of being immobile before he whirled around and skipped out of the building, thankful for what turned out to be a far better homecoming than he ever imagined.


	13. Backup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned informs Peter of just how whipped he is, but he panics as Harry comes back into the picture. Lucky for you, Tony and Pepper are there to save the day with some relationship advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whole lotta filler because I have big plans for the next chapter. Sorry this took so long, was super busy again this week and just wasn’t feeling the writing thing at first. As always, though, I hope you enjoy and please be sure to leave me any thoughts/comments/questions/etc.!! Thank you all for reading :)

The cafeteria slowly filled with students arriving from their classes. The lunch line grew longer and longer, but Ned and Peter were lucky to get out of class early and be some of the first in line. Ned looked around manically as he and Peter plopped down at their usual table, relieved when he didn’t see you and MJ yet.

“Peter, I have to tell you something that happened at the dance after you left.”

“What, people danced? You guys said it was boring.”

“It was,” he snorted, rolling his eyes. “But Y/N said something before she followed you.” 

“Oh yeah, and weren’t you supposed to keep her there? And _not_ let her follow me?”

“Ok, ok, sure. But you’re going to freak when you find out why I let her go!”

“Out with it, Ned! No need to make this suspenseful.”

“Oh, like you guys aren’t weird and secretive already. Listen, she was trying to get me to let her go and I kept saying no and she was so worried about you getting hurt. She had this look in her eyes and was so insanely concerned, so I asked her straight up if she liked you. She—”

“You _what?”_

“She acted all confused and stutter-y at first, but I just _knew_ it was fake. So, I told her that you’d be relieved to find out she liked you, too.”

_“TOO?”_

“Uh, yeah? But she literally inflated in front of my eyes. She—”

“Ned, oh my gosh.”

“It’s like I’m your love life guy in the chair!”

“Ned! I have to tell you something about that night too. About the battle and stuff.” Ned leaned in as if about to hear an age-old story about his great ancestors. “First of all, when she found me, she was shaking and literally crashed into me with a hug. And then when I was having to go keep fighting, she was so worried because I almost got crushed by a building—"

“A _BUILDING?”_

“Yeah? I got out. Anyway, she was nearly crying with worry and I wiped a few of her tears away. And just held her and she held my hand. And then later when she blacked out—”

“She _BLACKED OUT?”_

“NED! Quiet! She blacked out because she was falling out of the sky as dead weight because the Vulture inactivated her suit somehow. And when she fell…I felt so much pain. I thought I lost her again…I couldn’t breathe,” he whispered, reflecting on the struggle that night on the beach. “When I felt her pulse, I could breathe again and I didn’t want to let go. But she was still worried about me.”

“Woah. How’d you leave it?”

“OH! So, the next day? Ned. I told her I wish I had taken her to homecoming. Technically she heard me say it under my breath, but whatever. You know what she did? She kissed my cheek. I couldn’t move. I’m so lame…freaking out about a hug basically…”

“Dude. You are _SO_ whipped.” “Who’s whipped?” You and MJ tossed your lunches onto the table next to the boys, more interested in teasing them than you were in their gossip.

“Peter is!” Ned blurted before Peter kicked him underneath the table.

“Oh,” you muttered, visibly sinking in your seat. Peter’s own face dropped as you stared down at your food, poking around with disinterest.

“For who?”

“A…a girl,” Peter answered, not wanting to give an honest answer to MJ’s question but definitely noting your reaction.

“Good to know. But, you know, if it was a boy, like Ned, you could tell us those things. That’s what friends are for,” MJ said, lips curling up in a smirk. Peter tried to argue but Harry walked up to the group and cut him off.

He sat down next to you, resting his arm around your shoulders as he started talking. “So you’re Tony Stark’s daughter?”

“Adopted, but…yeah,” you responded, tensing under his wing. After the press conference, the whole school obviously found out about your identity. Flash lost his mind and blew up your phone – no surprise there – but so far school had otherwise been normal. A few questions, lots of stares, and a few more people willing to talk to you. Nothing that mattered to you, though.

“Right, right. But _that’s_

where you had to go Saturday night? Because you were fighting a huge battle and saving the city?”

“I…I guess?”

“Ok. That’s pretty amazing. I forgive you.”

“Forgive me?”

“Yeah! It hurt when you left but I totally understand it all now,” Harry explained, offering a sweet smile as you and your friends stared blankly back at him. “So, since our first date got screwed up, I was wondering if you’d like to try again sometime? Maybe…Friday night?”

You blinked hard and your eyebrows furrowed as you processed what he said. “Date?”

“Yeah! You know, like I’ll come pick you up and we could grab dinner.”

“I…uh…I,” you sputtered, looking to your friends like a silent plea for help. MJ had little reaction to the conversation, especially in comparison to Ned and Peter. Ned looked as if he had just watched his favorite _Star Wars_ character die and Peter watched with concerned eyebrows over glossy puppy-dog eyes. Peter’s expression didn’t waver as you held his gaze, a whirlwind of moments returning to your mind. You flashed back to meeting Peter for the first time, to thinking he hated you, to when he hugged you for the first time as you left his apartment after studying all day together. You thought about the gala and about watching _Star Wars_ afterward and falling asleep on his shoulder; about him trusting you during the fight in Germany. You remembered him being there you when you felt most alone and about waking up in his arms, warm and happy and safe. You felt the heat from the fires as you thought of the fear you felt for each other in the fight against the Vulture on the beach, and the honest conversation you had the next morning. Peter was… _Peter._ Harry… _wasn’t._ “So? Whaddaya say?” Harry asked again, poking your shoulder. “Pick you up at seven?”

You blinked, forcing yourself out of your distracted trance and back to the conversation at hand. “I…I have to ask.”

“Ask what? Who?”

“I have to ask…Tony. And Pepper. I…I don’t know if they have rules about this or if I have training then or something.”

“Huh. I mean, seems a little weird that you’d have to ask for permission, but ok. Just…text me when you know, I guess.”

He walked off shaking his head, his friends instantly surrounding him and asking him what you said. They looked back at you, eyebrows pressed together in simultaneous confusion and judgement. At your table, everyone returned to eating, though this time in uncomfortable silence. Peter watched you stare at your tray, pushing food around your tray without taking a bite. Though he hadn’t wanted you to say yes, seeing you weighed down by an internal struggle didn’t make him feel any better.

None of your classes the rest of the day could pull your attention away from the thoughts and emotions swirling within you. Putting the feelings going through your head into words and saying them out loud was even scarier than the thought of having to reject someone to their face. Either way, you were going to have to be vulnerable to someone, and that sounded terrifying.

You quietly sat through your remaining lectures with your head buried in your notes as your friends looked on. They could all tell you were uncomfortable – it wasn’t hard to see – but Ned and MJ didn’t understand it like Peter. He eyed you sitting in front of him in one class, his own memories returning to all the times you spent together. Most recently, he felt your hand on his shoulder and lips on his cheek from just days earlier, a moment he clung to for hope that you might like him half as much as he liked you.

As the last bell finally rang, you nearly sprinted off campus and into Happy’s car. Knowing you wouldn’t be able to figure this out alone, you texted Tony and Pepper for back-up. Hoping you had finally come to your senses, they scurried to the common area to meet you as you arrived, and the three of you sat down at the table together to talk.

“I don’t know how I got here,” you explained after telling them just about everything. You left out a few details you weren’t sure about, including Peter’s name. The last thing you needed was Tony running around the compound screaming that he was a teenage matchmaker. “I didn’t know anyone my age a few weeks ago, and now I’m the stupid girl stuck between two boys.”

“No, you’re the _smart_ girl _stupidly_ stuck between two boys.” You quirked a brow at Tony’s clarification and he explained further. “You’re smart, but the answer here is obvious. Right? I mean, Pe—”

Pepper elbowed him harshly and he shut up. “I know it’s a hard thing you’re going through. As scary as it is, I think you need to talk to the boy you like. Especially if you know you like him better than Harry.”

“How do I bring that up? And not run away?”

“You see him all the time. He practically lives here—”

_“Tony!”_

“He does!”

“You…you know?” Your voice squeaked with bubbling embarrassment. Pepper and Tony looked to each other, pushing down laughter and instead settling for teasing smiles as they faced you again.

“You weren’t exactly great at hiding it, sweetheart,” Pepper teased, “but don’t worry. Peter is even more obvious, I promise.”

“He won’t stop talking about you! We go down to the lab to work and he’s all ‘Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark! Y/N did this, Y/N is so great, Y/N Y/N Y/N.”

“Oh my gosh—”

“In all seriousness, though, you should just talk to him, kiddo,” Tony tapped your hands that you now pressed against your hot face.

“Hey Mr. Stark— _oh.”_ Peter stood at the top of the stairs leading into the common area, backpack draped over his suit and mask clenched in one hand at his side. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Actually, great timing, Pete! We were just—”

“—Just about to go down to the lab, right?” Pepper jumped in to cover for you. “You were telling me about working on the new suit.”

Tony rolled his eyes at Pepper but grinned as he looked back to you and Peter. “I suppose I was. Let’s go to work.”

* * *

Down in the lab, Tony had FRIDAY wheel out the Iron Spider suit. Though he had seen it before, Peter couldn’t help but stare at it in awe. And he didn’t even know the best part.

“Wanna do the honors?” Tony prompted you, a hand on your shoulder as Peter continued to marvel at the suit. You walked up to it and smiled back at the two boys before reaching up to press the spider on the suit’s chest. It immediately retracted into the right web shooter, which fell into Dum-E’s grasp stretched out below. You picked it up and tossed it to Peter, who was still zoned out but thankfully returned to earth as his spidey senses alerted him to the object lobbed toward his face. He looked back at you and Tony, still silent, and Tony nodded with encouragement to try it on.

The web shooters fit as well as they always had and molded quickly to his wrist. Like on your suit, he then pressed the inside of the web shooter where he’d take his pulse and the suit started snapping on to his body, expanding all from that web shooter. Lastly, it covered his dropped jaw and the eyes expanded to mirror his.

“This is… _woah.”_

Tony explained a few of the new tricks but it was you who suggested he learn about its hidden feature. Because it was activated with neural impulses, you told Peter to think about having an extra set of hands to help. Or legs, you joked, snickering at Tony despite Peter not getting the joke.

It took him a second being the first time, but the legs suddenly snapped out and expanded just like the rest of the suit had. The four legs hovered behind Peter to wait for another neural impulse to direct them, but Peter once again found himself in complete awe.

“What are _these?”_

“Legs.”

“No, but like…what _are_ they?”

“They’re literally extra legs. They can fight and move you around or help you climb walls or whatever your heart desires,” you rambled, shoulders tensing as you realized what you said. Peter just nodded, however, too caught up in the new legs sprawling out from his back. Testing it out for a few minutes turned into trying some challenge maneuvers. Whereas last time you tested a new suit in the lab with Peter you were just tossing kickballs up into the air, this time you tossed the balls into the air for him to retrieve while some of Tony’s older suits tried to knock him down.

Wanting to get more comfortable in your own suit, you pressed down the bracelets on your wrist. The nanotech suit quickly spread over your own body until the mask clicked on to your face, lighting up the eyes and arc reactor. Tony took over tossing kickballs while you lifted into the air, surprising Peter by flying toward him while he dodged a punch from another suit. The legs pushed him off the wall and he somersaulted in the air before landing in his classic spidey stance. You landed opposite him in Tony’s classic stance, fist punching down into the ground in a lunge.

Both of your masks recoiled from your faces and the two of you stood up, moving to talk to Tony to decide what to test next. On the lab bench, your phone rang – which was weird given that the two people that normally called you were in the lab with you – and you left the conversation to answer it.

“Oh, hi Harry,” you answered as you pressed the phone to your ear, gesturing toward the door and stepping out while your suit compressed itself. Peter watched you step out of the room, eyes following you even as you paced in the hallway on the other side of the glass wall. His shoulders drooped and Tony put his arm around Peter, steering him away from the glass.

“Still pining, huh?”

Peter stopped walking and sighed; Tony stood in front of him with a quirked brow. “She likes someone else. He asked her on a date today and she’s talking to him right now. I can’t get between them.”

“She told me what happened. Trust me, though – there’s nothing to get between.”

“How do you know?” Peter shrugged, thinking back to what Ned said. “I mean, my friend thinks she likes me, and we’ve gotten really, really close but I just…I don’t know for sure.”

“Do you remember when I came to meet you for the first time in your apartment and – being the total dweeb that you are – you told me you couldn’t go to Germany because you had _homework?”_

“Yes…”

“And then do you remember how you trusted me and trusted your Spider-Man powers and took a leap to fight the _Avengers?”_

“Yes, but it’s different—”

“But it’s not. It’s a quick bit of courage and then common sense takes care of the rest. You have to trust what you’re feeling. What are you feeling?”

“I _feel_ like I _really_ like her. A lot. Every time—”

“NOPE. I don’t need details. You two are happy when you’re together and I trust you, so that’s enough for me. Like I told her about you, just talk. _To each other.”_

The glass door swung back open behind them and you walked in still tapping on your phone.

“Wait, Mr. Stark, you talked to her about _me?”_

“Just _talk,_ ok?” He whipped around to you. “Anything crazy?”

“Nothing, thankfully.”

You tossed yourself onto a stool at the lab bench where you were working as Peter suited back up, asking Tony to run a few more practice trials. Tony had to repeatedly slow him down as he ran through drill after drill until the motions were nearly mastered. Tony groaned every time Peter asked for a re-do while you watched from the side and chuckled, the noise they made thoroughly distracting you from the homework in front of you.

From across the room, Tony met your gaze and raised his eyebrows, a silent inquiry into what you said on the phone call. “I turned him down,” you mouthed quietly back, and Tony smiled warmly and winked before returning his attention to Peter. You looked to Peter, too, amazed by how effortlessly he used the extensions of the suit despite just using them for the first time.

* * *

Though Peter didn’t bring it up at school that week, he constantly thought about Tony’s advice. That said, you didn’t bring it up, either, and had all the same chances to do so. Peter’s skin crawled whenever Harry tried to talk to you throughout the week, but what he didn’t know was that you didn’t like it, either.

Finally, that Friday afternoon, Peter swung around the city on patrol when he spotted a bank robbery. Climbing in through the vents until he hung from the ceiling to scout it out, he counted 12 armed thieves. Even with his new high-tech suit, he decided, this was more than he should take on alone for a casual patrol night. He didn’t want to call Tony, though, and sound any more like a baby Avenger than he knew he already did. So, he called you.

Seeing Peter’s name pop up on your phone wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He called while swinging around the city on occasion and you loved talking to him, so you never turned down one of his calls.

“Y/N? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, Pete…why are you whispering?”

“I’m in a bit of a sticky situation and am wondering if I can request backup?”

“You shoot web fluid, Pete. You’re always in a sticky situation.”

“Ok, yeah. Puns aside, I really do need help, please!”

“What’s up?”

“I’m currently on the ceiling of the Queens County Savings Bank on 188th and there are 12 people with guns. I could do it…of course…but just want to be safe, you know…”

_“Peter Parker!_ That is too many! I’m flying over now; don’t you dare move a muscle.”

“Thanks, _May.”_

“Shut up, dumbass. Don’t hang up.” The robbers cracked into the safe in the back, starting to pull out wad after wad of cash while the alarm blared throughout the strip mall. “Ok, I'm here!”

Peter had no idea how you flew so fast but shot out webs at two of the weapons as you flew through the shattered glass at the front of the store, knocking out their two guards on your way in. Peter webbed the two weapons to the wall before slingshotting himself toward the now-unarmed men, simultaneously punching both with knock-out blows. Behind him, you armed your repulsors, hitting thief after thief as they tried to run away. Focused on nabbing weapons, Peter didn’t see as one of the remaining robbers pointed his gun right at him. Alerted by FRIDAY to his danger, you jumped in between the gunman and Peter and activated your shield. It shot out in all directions to protect you both as bullets rained down. Now aware of the attacker, Peter hopped over the shield and yanked the weapon into the air before slamming it down on the robber’s head. Five people remained now, and you looked at Peter for half a second as if to agree on a plan before finishing the job. While FRIDAY called the police, you worked to corner the stragglers so that Peter could web them up.

The sun set slowly on the horizon as you walked out of the bank casually with Peter, both of you still in your suits. You were shoulder to shoulder, occasionally bumping together even though you blamed it on the shoulders of your iron suit being wider than what you were used to. Sirens of police cars wailed as they approached the bank but even that didn’t overshadow the much-needed conversation hanging in the air.

“Hey, Pete?”

The hesitation in your voice brought ice to his veins. “Yeah?”

“Are…are you done with patrols for the night?”

“Oh!” A small part of him sank with relief, though most of him wished the conversation would just happen so he could get the admitting part over with. “Uh, I haven’t decided. I haven’t sensed any more crime nearby but normally just swing around for a bit.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Why?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Aw, come on!” He nudged his shoulder into you as the two of you walked further from the bank. “What is it?”

“Well, I was going to ask…if you’re done for the night, we could go watch a movie at the compound if you want,” you spit out. “We could actually watch the next Star Wars without me falling asleep…or something.”

“Oh! Yeah, let’s do it!”

“Are you sure? You don’t need to patrol?”

He thought about the times when he turned Ned down to hang out because of patrols and other Spider-Man duties, feeling bad about turning down his friend. He couldn’t imagine saying no to spending time with you, though. “Y-yeah! I haven’t had a night off this week and we haven’t hung out in a while, either.”

“We fought together all last weekend, spent the whole week together at school, and you were at the compound a ton playing with the iron spider suit. We were together most of the week, Pete.”

“Oh. Well, yeah. But when’s the last time we hung out not as superheroes or future genius students?”

“Was it when I screamed at you a lot while we played Mario Kart and then fell asleep on you?” Your shoulders caved forward as you thought to what had happened next. “And then woke up to the Accords…”

Your eyes darted down to the ground and Peter followed, remembering how tough that had been on you. He also knew you were still concerned about Steve and the others having not yet returned; you missed your training buddy.

“Hey,” he offered, casually setting his arm around your still-iron shoulders. “It’s not like that’s going to happen every time we hang out.”

“I know,” you snorted, straightening back up and shouldering him teasingly.

“But you thought about it! Now I think I _have_ to come over so you don’t associate me with horrible things happening.”

With your iron suit being a much faster way to travel, you lifted into the air with a smile while Peter shot a web to your suit to fly in your wake. 

* * *

You touched down on the lawn of the compound, Peter landing nearby with a somersault. Both of you pressed your chests – the arc reactor for you and spider for Peter – and your suits retracted as you got inside and headed toward the common room.

Tony, standing in the kitchen, saw the two of you approach and bolted out before he could be seen, for once not wanting to intervene. You plopped down the couch and asked FRIDAY to pull up the next Star Wars movie. As the intro rolled up the screen, the couch buzzed and you pulled your phone out of your pocket.

**Harry:** What’s up?

You sighed, not wanting to reply but also not wanting to be rude.

**You:** Watching a movie at home!

You slid the phone away, hoping the message wasn’t cold but also that it wasn’t warm enough that he wouldn’t keep replying. Sure enough, the phone buzzed again almost immediately. The message didn’t go unnoticed by Peter, of course, who turned to see the phone screen illuminating a frown creasing your face. You quickly shoved the phone away without replying, but it was only seconds later that the phone buzzed repeatedly to indicate an incoming call.

Peter paused the movie, peering over at you rolling your eyes and groaning at the screen once again. Even from where he sat across the couch, Peter could see that the screen had Harry’s name on it. He didn’t know what to make of it – you seemed annoyed, but then again, it was the boy you had gone to homecoming with. For the beginning, at least.

You pressed your phone back into the couch and looked back up at the screen only to see it was paused. The phone kept buzzing on the seat next to you, now face down. You wanted nothing more than for it to stop so you could get on with the movie.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“No.”

“You…you don’t want to talk to him?” Peter couldn’t resist the urge to ask. “Isn’t he…isn’t he your boyfriend?”

Almost laughing in his face, you whirled to face Peter. “NO. Noooooo. Definitely, definitely not.” The corners of Peter’s lips ticked up and he narrowed his eyes, inviting an explanation. “I turned him down for that date and he still keeps calling me and asking me to hang out.”

“I’d offer to beat him up for you, but I think you could hold your own.”

A smile finally graced your lips as you chuckled at the thought. “He just won’t leave me alone. He was nice and all but just not…I don’t like him like that.”

“Hmm. It might be good practice to be turning him down, though.” You quirked a brow. “I mean, you’ve always been great, but now you’ve been announced as an Avenger-in-training? Now every guy is going to see your face and you’ll have to turn everyone down.”

A laugh escaped your throat and you let your head fall forward into your hands. Peter beamed at you, the tension finally leaving your body for the first time all week.

“Come on, you can’t try and tell me you haven’t had a lot of guys asking you out!”

You bit your lip and giggled again before turning to him. “I mean, a little, but I don’t want it.”

“How come?”

“Uh, I…I guess…I guess I already like someone?” Peter’s morale sunk initially, but he looked up to see her staring and quickly turning away when they made eye contact. “What about you and…Liz? Are you guys, you know…together?”

“No, not at all. I don’t think we’ve talked outside decathlon practice.” He inhaled deeply, carefully choosing his next words. “The girl I actually wanted to ask to the dance had already been asked.”

You sat back against the couch in thought as silence fell between the two of you. Peter and you both thought back to the conversation you had over the weekend about homecoming: him telling you you would’ve had a good time if he took you, and you admitting you wished he had taken you. Peter remembered the light in your eyes; you remembered the way his breath caught when you kissed his cheek. Both of you reveled in the memory but tried to contain the bit of hope flaring inside you that you were the one he actually wanted to ask and that he was the someone else you liked.

With both of you still deep in thought and not ready to share any more, Peter pressed play on the movie. After it ended, it was still light out, and you found yourself once again playing video games and board games and even just talking about anything and everything. You talked about the world, about school, about the things you wanted in life, about your greatest fears, about your dream careers, and the kind of people you each aspired to be.

Tony, being the wingman that he is, kept other Avengers out of the common area so the two of you would have your moment. With that being the case, you completely lost track of time until Peter’s phone rang three times in a row, finally getting through the do not disturb mode both of you had intentionally but discreetly activated on your phones.

“Oh my god. Y/N, it’s 10:30.”

“No way.”

“Yes! Hang on,” he said, answering the phone and holding it up to his ear. “Hi…hi May.”

You could hear May loudly shouting into the phone as he hadn’t been answering her texts. He pulled the phone away from his ear and you snickered.

“I…I know, May. I’m sorry. I’ve been with Y/N.”

The shouting on the other end of the phone stopped and she muttered only a few more words before Peter ended the call.

“I hope you don’t mind me namedropping. May loves you.”

“I’m honored. Tony loves you, so I get it!”

“Sadly, she still wants me to go home, though.”

“Oh. Well, thanks for hanging out with me tonight, Pete. I had a lot of fun.”

“No, thank you for inviting me over,” he said, standing up to go. You walked together over to the stairs and he turned back to you. “And thank you for helping me out at the bank today.”

“Of course, Pete. I’ll always be your backup.”

“You’ve never been the backup, Y/N.”

With a deep breath, he turned and walked down the stairs, even turning to look back up at you when he reached the bottom. You stayed at the top of the stairs for a moment even after he left, thinking back over his words until another voice pulled you out of your head.

“You tell him?” Tony stood in the kitchen again, having likely come in from the side hallway behind you.

“No,” you groaned, walking over to the kitchen counter and collapsing your forehead on your arms. “Almost. But no.”

“Hey, that’s ok,” Tony muttered, walking around the counter to put his hand on your shoulder. “Pep and I aren’t trying to push you into anything. We just see the way you two take care of each other and how happy you are together. No pressure.”

“I know. Thank you, _dad.”_

“Now, get to bed or else I’ll have to ground you.” Your eyebrows shot up and your forehead wrinkled. “Just kidding. But really, go to bed, kiddo.”

He gave you a quick hug and kissed your forehead before you meandered to your room. After getting changed into pajamas, you nearly fell into your bed, phone in hand. It buzzed while you were turning on your alarm for the morning.

**Peter:** Wanted to reiterate: you aren’t backup. You’re first choice, always. Good night, Y/N ❤️

**You:** “First choice, always” is probably the cutest thing I’ve ever read…lol you’re making me flustered and you aren’t even here. Sleep tight, spidey ❤️


End file.
